


The Stars are Yours

by Quinzeela



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hermione and Regulus friendship, Hermione and Snape friendship (work with me here...), Slow burn Hermione Granger/Sirius Black, Substance Abuse, Time Travel, Violence, and by substance I mean potion abuse, eventual smut but i'm talking like seriously eventual, non-canon, we've got a long way to go until we get to that, well misuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-04-03 16:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14000379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinzeela/pseuds/Quinzeela
Summary: Hermione finds herself tired and broken in the Marauder's era after the events that took place in Malfoy Manor.





	1. Chapter 1

Spring was finally upon them and the forest which had been so silent through the harsh winter was coming back to life. Odd sprouts and shoots were making their way through the undergrowth and slowly a little warmth was returning. It was exactly what Hermione needed. Everyone was at Shell Cottage but it had become too suffocating for her after everything they had been through and if she hadn’t of left soon she would’ve snapped. They had been trying to figure out their next move but seemed to just be going around in circles as the three of them argued and bickered. She desperately needed some space. 

Hermione had left Shell Cottage without telling anyone. Not because she wanted to be cruel or make them worry, Hermione had never wanted to hurt anyone like that, it was simply that Bellatrix was tormenting her even now. She lurked around every dark corner in shell cottage, every shadow setting Hermione on edge in the cottage that was so unfamiliar to her and finally she couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn’t until she had disapparated away from the cottage and landed in the now familiar surroundings of the forest again that she could breathe. The wide open expanse of the forest didn’t hold any fear for her, it was familiar territory and one that she, Harry and Ron had mapped out so much in the weeks previously. 

She revelled in the fresh air, tilting her head back, closing her eyes and inhaling. Had Hermione not been so exhausted though she would have realised how much of a bad idea this was. This was snatcher territory, sane Hermione knew that, this Hermione however felt beaten down and was unable to resist the crunch of twigs as she walked through the trees, the sound calming her, the air sweet and cool against her cheeks. 

Having not been in the right mind when she had fled she hadn’t grabbed her coat either and now she couldn’t help but start to feel the chill getting to her. Folding her arms across her chest she stilled slightly as she felt the time turner beneath her jumper press into her skin, cold and accusing. It felt so familiar to have one around her neck again, a comforting weight that was unfortunately causing her such a huge internal dilemma. As it had done since she had acquired the time turner, Hermione’s head started to swim again with whether she should use it or not.

She had obtained the time turner at Bill and Fleur’s wedding the previous summer and whilst Harry and Ron discussed what they needed to do next, all Hermione could think about was the secret weight in her pocket that no one knew she had. It had just been sitting there on one of the tables, as clear as day for anyone to see. As far as Hermione was aware all of the time turners had been destroyed during the battle at the Ministry so seeing it just sitting there, as bold as brass, had made her weary. It was only when all hell had broken loose that she had grabbed it, just before she, Harry and Ron had disapparated.

And now that Dobby had died Hermione was truly struggling with the amount of blood on their hands. But it wasn’t just straight forward - she couldn’t just use it, she knew she couldn’t; after all she didn’t know where the time turner had come from, she didn’t know if it had been tampered with or if it had been cursed. It was widely known how curious Hermione was and how much of a thirst for knowledge she had, it would only take someone like Lucius Malfoy to plant it – but then she stopped herself, there wasn’t a chance in hell that any death eaters would’ve had access to the wedding tent, not until it was attacked at least. Or perhaps someone they knew had been under the imperius curse and they hadn’t realised. There were too many variables and it was officially giving her a headache. 

With a sigh she rubbed her forehead. It would be such a huge risk to use it but what about the benefits. If it worked she could save Dobby, she could even work on collecting the Horcruxes and destroying them sooner now that they knew how. But she knew these things would come at a price and that price could be her life if the time turner was cursed; she would be no good to anyone dead.

“What’s on ya mind love?” Hermione gasped and withdrew her wand without hesitation, turning to find one of the Snatchers, Scabior they had called him, leaning against a tree trunk. He watched her with a calmness that unnerved her and like a punch to the stomach she realised just how stupid and distracted she had been to come back here. 

Scabior watched her, a slow smile inching onto his face at the horror in her expression, “Did ya miss me?” 

Hermione’s heart hammered in her chest as she looked at him, fear in her throat as she took in his black eye and the thick red welts on his neck. She looked away and scanned the trees briefly, checking for anyone else before her eyes quickly came to rest on Scabior again.

“It’s just me and you love,” He spoke calmly, stepping away from the tree and towards her. Hermione instinctively took a step back, “I was walking back to camp ya see and that’s when I caught ya scent. I thought to meself, no, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back ‘ere… turns out ya are.” Hermione watched as his wand dropped from his sleeve and into his hand; her grasp tightened on her own.

“So shall we do this the easy way or the hard way?” He quirked his head at her, grinning, his eyes trained on her wand. It was one on one and Hermione honestly thought she might have a chance. 

Without a second thought she shot a spell at him, the bark behind his head exploding into splinters and whilst he ducked she took her chance to start running. All she needed to do was get far enough away that she could safely disapparate without him following her – which was unfortunately easier said than done.

“Hard way it is then!” She heard him call behind her in a gruff sing-song voice, a jinx narrowly missing her and exploding in the dirt beside her feet. She shot jinx after jinx behind her but he was fast, he had done this a thousand times before. The pounding in her ears was deafening.

Finally a quick glance behind her confirmed that she was almost far enough away to disapparate. The smile that edged onto her lips however was wiped away as her foot hooked beneath a raised tree root and successfully tripped her, her ankle snapping as if it were a twig. A second later a jinx hit her hard in the back and added to the agony that she felt in her ankle. She couldn’t help but scream, her nerves on fire as a triumphant laugh sounded out above her. Scabior used his foot to roughly kick her so that she was lying on her back.

“I suppose I should thank you, it’s definitely more rewarding this way,” He grinned before bringing his boot down hard on the wrist of her wand arm, eliciting another cry of agony from her, her wand dropping into the dirt, “Gets the endorphins really pumping, don’t ya agree?” Scabior was staring down at her, his eyes manic. 

“Please- arggh!!” He stamped his foot down onto her wrist again with all of his weight, tearing the skin beneath his boot, dark eyes staring down on her whilst she screamed in pain. The sound echoed through the trees but no one would be coming to her rescue, not this time.

“You know after everything that happened we never even got paid for you and your shitty friends,” He hissed, “caught the golden trio and didn’t even get a single galleon,” He hissed, “What an unfair world we live in aye. Crucio!” Hermione’s throat burned with the screams that emitted from her already raw throat. 

Fire spread through her until her whole body was arched and writhing in the dirt. She didn’t think it was ever going to end but then suddenly it did. She was on her side in the foetal position, twitching and sobbing. Her chest heaved as she lay there her jumper bunched up around her stomach, her hair covering her face. Scabior was talking again but she couldn’t focus on his words, all she could think about was the pain and that this was going to be the end of her if she didn’t do something soon. While she had the chance she reached up her stomach and with trembling fingers she grabbed the time turner and pulled on it hard enough to break the chain. Hermione clutched it so tightly that it was a miracle that it didn’t shatter, her wrist throbbing at the movement but she knew she was running out of time and adrenalin was the only thing keeping her going now. 

Scabior didn’t relent as he kicked her hard again and again until she was flat out on her back, her whole body trembling. 

“Look at me,” He hissed and Hermione could only do as he asked, her breath coming out in clouds above her, never breaking eye contact with Scabior. 

“You’re going to wish you were never born,” He said, the hint of a smirk on his lips. Hermione took that as her cue and scrambled for her wand, Scabior watching in amusement, poised to kick her back down when she tried to use it against him. What he hadn’t counted on however was the time turner that she was clutching in her other hand. Adrenalin pushed her through the pain as she twisted the dial on the time turner blindly, her wand now clutch in her other hand. 

Hermione watched as Scabior vanished before her eyes and all she could focus on was the fact that it was working. The pain in her body faded as the world became a blur around her. The ground morphed and bent, her hair whipped her face, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She tried to think of anything but the immense sickness that was settling in her chest. The gravitational pressure that was being forced on her body finally started to let up, allowing her to breathe again.

Snow piled up inch by inch around her body until finally the world stopped spinning and she was surrounded by white. Hermione exhaled and opened her eyes, looking up at the branches of the snow covered tree that were towering over her. It had worked, it had actually worked. She closed her eyes again, exhausted, the snow soothing her pain for a second and soaking her to her skin. 

In a rush though the shock of the cold suddenly hit her, forcing her to her feet, eyes wide and alert. Hermione couldn’t help but scream out in pain as she put pressure on her broken ankle, blood rushing to her head and temporarily blinding her. She fell down to her knees, putting her hands out to catch herself, only to then crumple further as pain shot up her forearm. Hermione had no control of her body as she vomited, her body trembling from head to toe, tears blinding her. Letting out a broken sob at the pain she completely missed the sound of someone quickly approaching before stopping dead at the sight of her.

“Are you… are you okay?” Hermione couldn’t find her voice as she looked up, a deer caught in headlights, her heart thundering in her chest. She felt too lightheaded to function, her wand was hidden somewhere in snow around her leaving her with no way to protect herself if she needed to. Fear stabbed at her, no, she definitely wasn’t okay. 

“Are you okay?” The boy repeated, inching closer to her, taking in the sight of the girl that he had heard screaming. “Hey-” He said, concerned as he edged closer and finally Hermione looked up him, eyes bloodshot and tearful. She had no other way out of this. 

“Help me,” She whispered brokenly.

“What’s happened-” His words were cut off as Hermione suddenly screamed, crippling pain shooting through her entire body, an aftershock of the cruciatus curse hitting her hard as her spine snapped backwards. Her hair was matted with mud and her clothes were dirty and sodden and suddenly she was throwing up again, dry heaving into the snow.

“I’ll take you to Madame Pomfrey,” He uttered more to himself than to her but Hermione couldn’t help but cry as soon as the words left his mouth. She was safe, she was home and safe. “Take my hand,” he held it out to her and she grasped it weakly with her unharmed arm, allowing him to help her to her feet. She tried to keep as much pressure as she could off of her ankle. 

“My wand,” She whimpered.

“I’ve got it, don’t worry,” He spoke, bending down and plucking it from the snow, given it to Hermione who grasped it weakly. He took his cloak off and wrapped it around her shoulders, hiding some of the state she was in. Her face twisted with pain as she limped towards the castle, trying not to put any pressure on her foot but finding it immensely difficult even with the boy beside her propping her up. 

The sight of the castle brought a fresh new wave of tears to her eyes and she couldn’t help but openingly sob as they entered. The halls were relatively clear as it was a Hogsmeade weekend and those that weren’t there had opted to stay wrapped up warm in their common rooms. Both the boy and Hermione couldn’t help but feel thankful for that, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves than necessary. 

“What on Earth have you been doing?” Madame Pomfrey rushed forward before the two of them had even stepped fully into the infirmary, taking Hermione under her wing immediately. 

“Explain!” She snapped, helping Hermione over to one of the spare beds and pulling the curtain around it, “Do not make me repeat myself Mr Black!”

“I don’t know what happened to her,” He finally spoke, pulling his eyes away from Hermione to look at Madame Pomfrey, “I found her near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, I swear I didn’t do-”

“Fine, fine,” Madame Pomfrey bustled, making Hermione lie back, her eyes staring up at the ceiling, unfocused, “What is her name?” She knew the majority of the students that attended Hogwarts but this girl was escaping her memory.

“I don’t know, I don’t know her,” He answered shakily, “Is she going to be okay-”

“She should be,” The mediwitch spoke, cutting him off, “Thank you for bringing her to me, you may now leave.”

“What? No, I want to stay with her-”

“You will be of no use to her here,” Madame Pomfrey spoke, her voice softening as she saw the genuine concern in his face, “You can find her in the hall later Regulus but right now you are of no use to her here, you will just get in the way.” He looked between Madame Pomfrey and Hermione before nodding in defeat. Brow furrowed he took one last look at Hermione before leaving.

The pain was blinding, her wrist and ankle both throbbing, her body on fire. Hermione’s thoughts were clouded as Madame Pomfrey came back over to her. The healer cast a few charms which immediately cleaned her up and dried her clothes. She proceeded to cast a warming spell over the bed and then a silencing charm within the curtain that circled her.

“You’re not a student at Hogwarts, are you?” She asked and Hermione swallowed thickly, tears escaping her as she looked away, unsure of what to say. Madame Pomfrey sat down beside her with a sigh, “I need you to be completely honest with me so that I can help you child.” Hermione winced as she opened her hand, revealing the time turner. The healer paused, taking it into her own hand before letting out a shaky breath.

“Friend or foe?”

“Friend,” Hermione croaked, her voice thick with the emotion that she was trying to contain, “I was a student here.”

“It’s the 2 nd November 1977, what year are you from dear?” Hermione stared at her, eyes wide in panic, she had gone too far back, way too far back.

“1998,” She whispered.

“Right,” Madame Pomfrey stood immediately, “I am going to need to do a full health check on you and then we’ll fix anything that was damaged in the journey. It’s a miracle you’re still alive child.”


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately for Hermione nothing was kept a secret from Madame Pomfrey. The healer saw the torture that Hermione had endured at the hands of Bellatrix, she mapped the hexes that had hit her over the years, she fixed the damage that Scabior had done and finally she witnessed the extent of damage that the time turner had caused. Hermione was in a worse state than Madame Pomfrey had first thought and to say her work was cut out for her was an understatement as more and more problems started to appear. The first of which was when her spleen ruptured, and then it became apparent her brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen which lead to her suffering from bursts of hysteria. It was frankly a miracle that Hermione had survived the trip and it was a close call of whether she would still survive yet. 

It wasn’t until the medi witch had Hermione in a stable condition that she called on the Headmaster. Hermione had been terrified that she wouldn’t be taken seriously but the proof of what had happened was there and luckily Dumbledore was patient with her, listening to everything that she had to say whilst she explained why her hand had been forced to use the time turner so recklessly. She stressed to the point of tears that this wasn’t what she would have done under normal circumstances, she knew the dangers that came with time turners, she had just been so desperate to survive.

* * *

The days wore on, Hermione slipping in and out of consciousness due to the mix of potions she was on. In the rare moments that she was awake both Dumbledore and McGonagall were at her bedside talking to her about what her life had been like before. It was an odd experience to tell two people she knew so well the things that they already knew about in her time. 

As she healed the side effects of the potions she was taking became less severe and she spent more time awake in bed. The curtain was constantly drawn around her in order to keep any nosey students at bay but that didn’t stop her from listening curiously as students came and went throughout the day. It all felt so familiar and almost like a dream and it didn’t take long for the sheer weight of the situation to make her crack. 

It was almost a week and half after her arrival that she finally confided in Dumbledore. She told him what she had been doing in the forest and she told him about the hunt for Horcruxes that he himself had sent she, Ron and Harry on. She needed him to trust her and to understand exactly who she was to him. He took her claims seriously and they discussed her situation at length, Dumbledore getting a grasp on it all a lot quicker than she had anticipated. He was a hard man to read but Hermione felt like a slight weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that he knew what exactly it meant by her being here.

* * *

Finally it was at the two week mark that Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall came to her bedside for the final time. Whilst her head still hurt sixty percent of the time and her body was still aching, the hysteria and aftershocks had subsided so Madame Pomfrey had been forced to give her the all clear. 

Hermione sat up in the hospital bed with a mug of milky tea cupped in her hands whilst Dumbledore conjured two plush looking chairs for himself and McGonagall. They settled down in them and Dumbledore offered Hermione a kind smile. 

“Hermione, as you are aware, Madame Pomfrey has given you a clean bill of health and subsequently she is going to discharge you from her care,” Dumbledore started and Hermione couldn’t help but nod along slightly, “Of course this now leaves us with the predicament of what we are to do with you. As we have discussed in the past week it is not going to be possible for you to get home in the same manner that you came here. Due to this and the fact that we cannot allow you to leave the safety of Hogwarts I think it would be best for you to stay here until I figure out a way to get you home.” 

Hermione couldn’t help but stare at him. This hadn’t been what she had been expecting at all. They weren’t handing her over to the ministry for starters which was frankly a relief but was also coming as a huge surprise. 

“Professor McGonagall and myself have discussed it at lengths and we think the only option is to have you continue your studies here whilst I try and find a way to get you home. I need you to understand however that you had travelled further than ever documented before and it is frankly a miracle that you survived the trip here Hermione.” 

“Would the Ministry not be able to help?” He looked at her in silence as he contemplated his answer and immediately Hermione knew that they were on the same page. 

“I have considered the options that we have and I do not wish to get the Ministry of Magic involved,” He paused and clasped his hands in front of him, “Whilst they may be able to help they will also see you as a wealth of knowledge and I fear for your safety in their hands. Which is why I think it would be best for you to join the rest of our seventh year students and simply blend in for the time being. It is our safest option seeing as we can’t permit you to leave Hogwarts and we can’t exactly just keep you locked up in a room either.” Dumbledore said with a small smile before looking to McGonagall with a very small nod, handing the reins over to her. 

“It is incredibly rare that we have students join in the middle of the school year so we will need to discuss what you are to tell other students as they are bound to ask. A house elf is going to put together a trunk with everything you will need in it and it’ll be ready and waiting for you in the seventh year Gryffindor dormitory tomorrow morning. You’re to spend one more evening here and then tomorrow morning, once Madame Pomfrey has discharged you, you will need to come to my office and we will discuss all further details then. I imagine you know where my office is?”

“Yes,” Hermione said softly, trying to take everything in that she was being told. Surely this was just going to turn into one huge mess? Surely she wouldn’t be able to get away with this? 

“I trust all of this is okay with you?” Dumbledore asked, seeming to know exactly where her thoughts were going. She couldn’t get into it with him though, she knew he knew best and she didn’t like to doubt him, not when he had always proved her wrong when she had doubted his decisions in the past. 

“Yes,” She said softly, “Yes that’s fine.”

“Wonderful,” He clapped his hands together, “Well in that case I think that is everything then,” Dumbledore started to stand, McGonagall following suit. 

“Headmaster,” Hermione said quickly and he paused and turned to her expectantly, “What if me being here changes something in my time?”

“The biggest problem with time turners is the possibility of running into oneself; in this instance however we don’t have to worry about that as your other self hasn’t been born yet. I think as long as you don’t go around killing anyone the future will remain relatively the same,” he offered her a small wink and she smiled weakly.

“Okay, thank you,” She said softly. Dumbledore nodded his head slightly at her before both he and McGonagall left, leaving Madame Pomfrey to give her that evenings potion. 

It wasn’t until late that night that the guilt truly rained down on her. She wasn’t particularly happy with the situation - how was she supposed to go about a fake day to day life when she knew that Harry and Ron would be going out of their minds trying to figure out what had happened to her? Would Scabior tell Voldemort she had disappeared? How quickly would the rest of the Wizarding World find out that the Golden Trio was down to two? The questions were endless and she barely slept a wink because of them. 

How could she have been so stupid. She could have let the snatcher do what he wanted to her, she could have found another opportunity to escape just like they had done in Malfoy Manor… but then that had been with the help of Dobby... Dobby who was now dead. It was a constant cycle of worrying and ‘what if’s and she was close to driving herself insane. 

When it boiled down to it, Hermione realised she should never have left Shell Cottage.

* * *

The meeting that Hermione had with McGonagall the following morning was long and tiring. She was functioning on little sleep and her head wasn’t in a good place at all. Still she managed to hold herself together on the surface.

They discussed her grades and which subjects she wanted to take. They put together a backstory for her - a lie which needed to be simple enough for Hermione to remember whilst elaborate enough for people to accept with very few questions asked. It was honestly a conversation that Hermione had never dreamt that she would be having with McGonagall. 

It was early afternoon when she finally left McGonagall’s office, utterly exhausted. She wore a new set of robes over the clothes that she had arrived in and honestly it all just felt so surreal. She wasn’t ready to go to the Gryffindor common room yet; it was going to be hard being in such a familiar place surrounded by people she didn’t know. So instead she wandered the castle, revelling in the relative calmness of it before she was thrown head first into lessons tomorrow. There were a few students hanging around the halls but no one paid her any mind which she had to admit she was glad of. 

Wandering down to the courtyard she found it unsurprisingly empty, the harsh winter wind keeping most people at bay. Hermione found it quite peaceful though as she leant against one of the stone pillars, looking across the courtyard to where had had many a snowball fight with the Weasleys and Harry. She missed them all so much. Not just Ron and Harry but Ginny as well. And then there was Luna and Neville too of course, the latter of which she hadn’t seen in months. With a painful tug on her heart she realised it had been far too long since she had seen her a lot of her friends in what she considered to be a safe environment. Her world really had gone to shit. 

“You’re not really one for keeping warm are you?” Hermione looked up, her hand dropping to her wand before she forced herself to drop her guard when she saw it was the student that had helped her get to the infirmary. Regulus’ cheeks were pink from the cold and she found herself actually thankful that he was the first person to approach her, it seemed fitting when he had also been the first to find her out near the forest. 

“Just exploring,” Hermione explained, watching as he entered the corridor that she stood in. He banged his shoes against the stone floor, getting rid of the snow that had clung to them, “Thank you for taking me to Madame Pomfrey the other week, I’m lucky you found me.”

“S’okay. How are you feeling?” He pulled his hat off and shook his black hair out. It fell just above his shoulders and Hermione watched as he ruffled his fingers through it. 

“Better, thanks,” She answered with a small shrug. He seemed to get the hint that she didn’t want to extend the topic and for that she was thankful. She turned to look at him properly, studying him as subtly as she could whilst he looked at the ground, his hands in his pockets as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet in an attempt to warm up. He reminded her of someone but she couldn’t quite put her finger on who. 

“I’m Hermione by the way,” She offered him her hand, noting how he hesitated before he shook it, quickly shoving his hands back into his pockets to keep warm.

“Reg,” he responded, “So what house are you in? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“You won’t have, I’m new here-”

“You’re new?” Regulus asked with raised eyebrows, “We don’t tend to get new students once term has started.”

“Special circumstances I guess,” Hermione said with a shrug, “I transferred from Beauxbatons.”

“Right,” Regulus eyed her for a second, “You a sixth year?”

“Seventh, are you sixth?”

“Yeah,” Regulus uttered and then rolled his eyes at Hermione as she struggled to hide her surprise, “I know, I look twelve right?”

“That…” Hermione smiled, breathing out a genuine laugh, “wasn’t actually what I was thinking.”

“Sure.”

“Honestly! I was just going to ask if you’ve been pushed ahead a few years or something?” the retort came naturally and whilst she hadn’t known where it had come from seeing Regulus’ mouth crack into a smile made her feel good. 

“Screw you,” He said softly with a quirk of a smile, his grey eyes slightly brighter now as he considered her, “Which house you in?”

“Gryffindor,” She leant back against one of the stone pillars. 

“Shame.”

“Which are you in then?” Hermione laughed, raising an eyebrow at him, “as far as I’m aware the houses are meant to be unified.”

“I’m going to guess McGonagall told you that?” He said with a roll of his eyes, “Because guess what, she lied, you’re in for a whole world of rivalry and backstabbing in this place."

“I look forward to it,” She said with a small smile, “You never answered my question.”

“I’m in Slytherin.”

“Oh…” The response had slipped from her before she could stop it. 

“Ah, so you do know a little about the houses then,” Regulus laughed, leaning against the stone pillar opposite her, his hands still wedged in his pockets.

“From what I understand the Slytherins and Gryffindors don’t exactly get along.”

“Well you’re not wrong.”

“Yet you’re still talking to me,” Hermione said curiously.

“Yet I’m still talking to you,” They looked at one another in silence before finally Regulus stepped away from the pillar, “I should probably get going.”

“I guess I’ll see you around then,” Hermione said with a polite smile.

“What did you say your name was again?” He asked, pausing as he took a step away from her.

“Hermione Granger,” She answered, watching as the muggle name registered with him.

“Granger,” He repeated curiously, “Half-blood?”

“Muggleborn,” She confirmed and he nodded slightly in response. 

“Well,” he exhaled, “I guess I’ll see you around Granger.


	3. Chapter 3

Stepping through the portrait hole and into the Gryffindor common room was an odd feeling. This place was her home away from home but everything just felt slightly off now that she was back here without her friends. The warmth at least was a familiar comfort and it eased her nerves slightly as she slowly made her way up the stairs, heading for the seventh year dormitory. 

Swallowing thickly Hermione couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread settle in her chest as she stood in front of her dormitory door, hyper aware of the voices coming from inside. Why couldn’t McGonagall have introduced them all? That would have been far less daunting than having to do this alone. Pushing that thought aside she held her breath, knocked once before pushing the door open, her hands trembling. 

“You must be Hermione!” She had barely stepped inside the room before she was thrown backwards as a petite blonde wrapped her in a hug, “Welcome to Hogwarts!” 

“Thank you,” Hermione breathed out a small laugh, eyes wide as the girl finally released her. 

“I’m Mary, McGonagall told us you’d be joining us-”

“The extra bed appearing out of nowhere also kind of gave it away,” Another girl that was lying on one of the beds quipped, not bothering to look up from her homework. Her black hair fell in thick curls around her face almost shielding her entirely from view. 

“That’s Dorcas, this is Marlene,” Mary gestured to a girl with bright purple hair who smiled and said a quick hi, “and that’s Lily.” Finally Hermione’s eyes fell on the redhead that was perched on the end of one of the beds, smiling at her. Hermione’s breath caught in her throat and whilst she had assumed she would come across ghosts at some point she hadn’t quite expected to see them so soon. 

She couldn’t help but swallow thickly before smiling, “it’s nice to meet you all.”

“Sorry about her, she can get a bit excitable at times,” Lily said teasingly.

“Hey! I’m just being friendly!” Hermione distracted herself by going to the bunk that had her trunk at the end of it. Her mind was going a mile a minute, hyper aware of the fact that if she was in the same year as Lily it meant the Marauders weren’t going to be far either.  This was going to be harder than she could ever have anticipated. 

“I appreciate it,” Hermione said softly as she knelt, peering into her trunk and examining the contents which unbeknownst to the other girls she had never actually set eyes on before, “some of the girls at my old school were incredibly unwelcoming at times.”

“Where was it that you transferred from?” Dorcas asked, finally looking up and closing her book. Hermione pulled some pyjamas out of her trunk before sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at them all as they awaited her answer.

“Beauxbatons,” Hermione gave a small smile.

“That’s in France isn’t it?” Mary grinned when Hermione nodded, “oh I’ve never been there! What’s it like? Is it true they eat snails?”

“They do,” Hermione couldn’t help but laugh and Marlene blanched at the thought, “it’s a really beautiful country, we moved there when I was eight.”

“How come?” Dorcas asked.

“My dad’s a dentist and he was offered his own practice there.”

“A dentist?” Marlene frowned, “What’s that?”

“It’s like a muggle healer that deals with teeth,” Lily answered, winking at Hermione.

“Oh! How sweet is that!” Mary laughed lightly. 

“I bet that’s an interesting job.”

“So how come you’re attending Hogwarts now?” Lily asked and Hermione looked down at her hands briefly before giving Lily a sad smile - she had a role to play and she was going to do her best to make it look genuine. 

“My grandma’s unwell so my parents moved back to London to be closer to her – it just kind of made sense for me to transfer here as well.”

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay, I’m dealing with it,” Hermione forced a smile.

“I’ve never heard of anyone transferring to Hogwarts,” Dorcas uttered, twiddling her quill between her fingers as she studied Hermione.

“Well I guess there has to be a first for everything,” Hermione shrugged with a small smile. She pushed back onto her bed, sitting cross legged, her pyjamas still clutched in her lap, “Can I ask…” she turned her attention to Marlene, wanting to move the attention away from herself, “are you a metamorphmagus?”

“Yes!” The purple haired witch grinned, “You know not many people get that so quickly.”

“My friend is one,” Hermione laughed, “She had bright hair too the first time I met her. She was really good at changing noses.”

“Oh I struggle with noses to be honest - hands and feet are another story though!” She held her hand out and it turned into a large bear paw before she changed it back. 

“Her hair is a perfect mood indicator,” Mary said, “Blue when she’s happy, white when she’s angry.”

“Purple when I’m stressed,” Marlene winked, “You’ll get to know them quick enough.”

“It’s great as you know exactly when to avoid her,” Lily laughed before ducking as a pillow was thrown at her.

They fell into easy conversation and Hermione’s nerves were eased slightly. Mary insisted on giving Hermione a small tour of Gryffindor tower - showing her where the bathrooms were and telling her what time they tended to get up for breakfast each morning. She told her about Hogsmeade and about which teachers were strict and which she could get away with handing her homework in late to. It was sweet of Mary and it helped Hermione relax a little.

* * *

Hermione slept horrendously that night. It was the first night her mind hadn’t been numbed with potions and the nightmares were persistent. She kept waking up in a cold sweat. Death Eaters filling her mind and plaguing her until finally at 5am she awoke, her heart racing and her face screwed up in anguish. Immediately she knew that there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to be able to fall back to sleep. Her heart hammered as she lay flat on her back, staring at the ceiling, praying that she hadn’t shouted out in her sleep – the fact that the dormitory was silent except for the other girls’ even breathing filled her with hope though. She tried to calm herself down but knew it was pointless, her body now on full alert. 

She decided to get up; heading for the showers and starting to get ready, two hours early, for her first day as a seventh year student at Hogwarts. It wasn’t even an hour later that she found herself completely dressed and ready. Not knowing what her timetable was going to be yet she quietly grabbed her school bag and silently cast an undetectable extension charm on it before filling it with all of her books. 

Heading down to the common room a warmth spread through Hermione’s chest as the fire lit. She had so many memories in that room and barely anything was different. There was still the same rug where Ron had often laid out doing his homework as last minute as possible; the sofa that Hermione had spilt ink all over in her fourth year; the fire that Harry had often fallen asleep in front of after Quidditch practice. It had been so overwhelming to be back here the previous night but now that it was just her in there she felt a lot calmer. 

With a small sigh Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before she ran into Remus and Sirius and whilst she was mentally prepared as can be for that she still wasn’t exactly sure how well she was going to deal with meeting Pettigrew and Snape. Rubbing her face tiredly she tried to push them all to the back of her mind, instead going over to one of the tables, sitting down and pulling out the first book she could get a hold of; charms. Professor McGonagall had warned her that there was going to be a good two months’ worth of work for all of her subjects that she would need to get caught up with and well there was no time like the present.    


Hermione read page after page, making notes and successfully distracting herself with a pile of parchment. She was completely in her own little world and didn’t notice as the portrait opened slightly to allow a student back in. He was silently making his way towards the stairs when Hermione finally saw him from the corner of her eye. She couldn’t help but stare, her heart stopping in her chest, her quill  stilling and subsequently blotting ink on her parchment. Sirius looked back at her in just as much surprise before seeming to shake it off.

“You didn’t see me, right?” He asked, pushing his long black dishevelled hair from his face with a coy smile.

“Right,” Hermione uttered, not taking her eyes off of him, her heart hammering. He winked at her before turning and jogging up to the boys dormitories. She stared at the space where Sirius had last been at the top of the stairs, her heart refusing to calm down.

* * *

It was strange walking into the Great Hall, everything was so familiar except for the fact that not a single person here knew who she was. No one was even looking in her direction as she found a seat at the Gryffindor table and honestly it made her feel more on edge than anything. On the plus side Hermione was the first of the seventh years to breakfast and to be honest, she was completely fine with that. Pulling a book out of her bag she attempted to mentally prepare herself for the day ahead.

Steadily more and more students started to filter in and already Hermione could tell it was going to be a tough day. Her heart stuttered in her chest at every student that passed her, her attention barely on the book in her hands, her stomach queasy. 

“Morning,” Hermione pulled her eyes away from her book and steeled herself as Mary dropped onto the bench beside her whilst Lily and Marlene sat opposite, “You were up early."

“Couldn’t sleep,” She said softly and put her book down on the table. 

“You nervous?” Lily asked, glancing to her as she buttered her toast.

“Yeah, a bit,” Hermione didn’t have to lie about that at least, feeling a bubble of nerves sitting in her chest as she thought of the day ahead; she had no idea who she was going to bump into and that scared the life out of her. 

“You don’t need to be, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Have you got your timetable yet?”

“Not yet – I’m just a bit concerned about the amount of catching up I’m going to have to do,” Hermione said softly whilst truthfully that only made it halfway up on her list of concerns for the day.

“What did I miss?” Dorcas asked, dropping into the empty space on the other side of Hermione.

“Hermione’s a bit worried about the work she’ll have missed in class,” Mary spoke and Dorcas just shrugged.

“I doubt the curriculum will be that different to what you were learning at your old school, it’ll just be in a different language.”

“So really it should be easier for you to follow if anything,” Marlene laughed lightly.

“Wait,” Mary put her fork down with a clatter, “so are spells the same in French as they are in English?”

“Mostly, as they are derived from Latin,” Hermione smiled in amusement, thinking back to her conversations with Fleur, “there’s just the odd few which are different. It’s the pronunciation and the wand movements which are more important though.”

“See, like I said, you’ll be fine, nothing to worry about,” Dorcas gave Hermione a small smile which Hermione couldn’t help but reciprocate. 

“Ladies,” Hermione looked up to find James standing there and had she not seen so many photographs of him she would’ve been unnerved by how much Harry looked like him, “you must be the newbie,” he smiled warmly at her, “I’m James.”

“Hermione,” She returned his smile and he nodded in acknowledgment before kissing Lily on the cheek and dropping onto the bench beside her, directly opposite Hermione. The hall was filling fast with students and Hermione was starting to feel incredibly claustrophobic.

“And here come the  _ rest _ of them,” Marlene spoke with a bite that Hermione had not yet heard from the girl, her hair fading to white as she looked at Sirius who was walking towards them.

“Marly!” Hermione watched as a jubilant Sirius bounded over to Marlene, wrapping his arms around her from behind, “What have I done now for you to be fading on me?” He placed an over exaggerated kiss on her cheek and Hermione watched curiously as Marlene pushed his arms off of her angrily. This exchange at least was enough to distract her from her fear. 

“Fuck off Sirius.” Hermione looked up in time to see Remus and Peter join the group and she couldn’t help but drop her eyes to her plate.

“Leave her alone Sirius,” Lily scolded sharply making him hold his hands up in mock horror.

“I don’t even know what I’ve done wrong!” he said, slipping into the empty seat beside Marlene. He met Hermione’s eyes briefly before she hastily looked away, busying herself by pouring herself another cup of tea. 

“I went to the Owlery this morning,” Marlene snapped, looking at Sirius pointedly, her hair seeming to glow, “Agnus was pink and his feathers were all rustled! And before you deny it, I know it was you!” She hissed and from beside her Hermione heard Mary groan whilst Dorcas muttered a small ‘for Merlin’s sake’. Sirius however held his hands up in horror.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about-”

“Sure,” She snapped, “not only did it have Sirius Black written all over it but you also left some of the pellets in the common room last night, you absolute idiot!” 

“There was no harm done though right?” Sirius spoke before groaning as Marlene punched him hard in the arm.

“When are you going to stop fucking about and actually grow up,” She ranted and Hermione couldn’t help but smile to herself.

“What if you had hurt him? He had all pink gunk in his eyes-”

“I was aiming for Snivellus’ owl to be fair- ow! Hey!”

“I don’t care whose owl you were aiming for, you don’t aim at poor! defenceless! animals!” She punctuated each word with another punch.

“Alright, alright! I’m sorry okay!” He said, trying to move away from her but unsuccessfully, “It won’t happen again!”

“Good!” Hermione could barely keep her smile at bay, hiding it behind her cup of tea quite unsuccessfully.

“Is Agnus okay?” Dorcas asked and Hermione watched as Marlene’s hair changed slightly, a tinge of blue colouring it.

“He is now, thank you.”

“Oh! We haven’t introduced you! Oh Merlin we’re bad people,” Mary suddenly gushed from beside Hermione and before she could stop her, Mary had managed to get all of their attention, “guys this is Hermione, the new girl McGonagall spoke to us about,” Hermione’s cheeks tinged pink as all of their attention was suddenly on her, “You’ve already met James, and this is Sirius, Remus and Peter.”

“Didn’t think I recognised you earlier,” Sirius grinned, “I thought, just who is this beautiful Gryffindor-”

“Knock it off Black,” Dorcas interrupted with a roll of her eyes, “Put your dick away, no one cares.”

“Told you,” James grinned at the crestfallen look on Sirius’ face. He was about to retort when the post owls saved them. A large envelope was dropped down, taking Hermione by surprise as it landed flat on her plate, right on top of her toast - she hadn’t missed the owl post that was for sure. Careful not to cover her hands in butter she opened the envelope, pulling out her timetable as well as a note from Dumbledore, and a list of which books she would need for which lessons. Without a word to anyone else she scanned over her timetable not realising that Mary was also looking at it.

“That… that is a lot of classes,” Mary breathed from beside her, “did you just take everything?”

“No,” Hermione couldn’t help but smile, “There aren’t that many.”

“There really is… how exactly are you going to cope with all of those?” Mary said before distracting herself and pointing excitedly to Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, “Oh you have these with me! We can go together!”

Hermione looked around them all towards the end of breakfast, her stomach churning with nerves as she watched the group of friends interact with each other. The fact that she knew Remus would end up being the lone survivor of the group was a terrifying thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaah, so I made Marlene a metamorphmagus and I'm honestly not sure how well that is going to go down with you guys... but seeing as we don't exactly know much about Marlene I thought why the hell not. Please don't hate me! 
> 
> Thank you for all of the comments and kudos'! It means the world to me!


	4. Chapter 4

The list of topics that Hermione needed to study in her own time was growing larger and larger with each class that she attended. It was daunting but she wanted to catch up, after all if she was going to be stuck there she wanted to at least make the most of it -  it was the least she could do and maybe she could even learn something which could end up assisting their the hunt for horcruxes once she was back in her own time. That thought in particular was keeping her going.

Hermione was running late as she headed to her first potions class. She ran down the corridor with her bag clutched to her chest before skidding to a halt outside of the dungeon door - her breath escaped her in clouds as she gathered herself. Taking a deep breath she knocked lightly before entering.

She was hyper aware of the class turning to stare at her as she entered, shutting the door behind her before rushing over to Slughorn’s desk

“I'm so sorry I'm late Professor,” she held a note out to him, “I was with Professor Bartimus, it won't happen again.”

“Ah, you must be the new student I've been hearing so much about,” he read the note quickly before looking up at her with a small smile, “very well, please take a seat beside Mr Crane at the back there.” Hermione nodded, heading for the one empty seat beside a Slytherin boy, passing James and Sirius on the way, the latter winking at her much to her discomfort. As she sat down she finally felt like she could breathe again, taking a second to glance around herself to find Lily as well as a couple of other students that she recognised from her other classes.

It felt good to be back under Professor Slughorn’s teaching, finding that the lesson flew by but she was well and truly exhausted by the end of it. She wasn’t happy with how her potion turned out at all and it hadn’t helped her concentration when half way through the lesson she had heard Slughorn addressing a young Severus Snape on the table beside hers. Packing up she made a note of her homework before approaching Professor Slughorn, watching out of the corner of her eye as the rest of the class filed out.

“Sir, I understand that I have missed quite a lot from the beginning of the year.”

“Mm, quite indeed,” He gave her a small smile as he looked up from his desk.

“I know you’re busy so I don’t expect you to tutor me privately but if you could give me a list of potions that I need to study and possibly practice I would really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” He said in surprise, taken back by her eagerness to cover everything she had missed, “I’ll put together a list for you ready for next lesson.”

“Could you also include the ones that you teach to sixth year students please? I fear that the lessons were a little different at Beauxbatons and I don’t want to miss anything.” He looked at her again in increasing surprise.

“Certainly, I will have that ready for you next lesson, Miss…”

“Granger,” She smiled, “Hermione Granger.”

“Granger,” He repeated happily, “You are welcome to practice potions in here outside of class if you wish; my only rule is that you must always have someone in here with you - for safety of course.”

“That’s perfect, thank you Professor,” Hermione smiled politely before turning towards the door where Lily and Marlene were waiting for her.

* * *

As her first week wore on Hermione was struggling to stay positive. She had so much on her mind and no one that she could talk to about it and she was starting to feel like she was going to explode. It hadn’t helped either when she had slowly become the talk of the school, rumours starting to spread about who she was and why she had joined them so late. This was quickly stopped however when James had exclaimed in frustration during dinner one night that Hermione had merely moved here from France and that there was absolutely nothing interesting about her unless they meant her weird eagerness to learn and most people didn’t. He had then turned to her apologetically, telling her that he hadn't meant that she was boring or anything just that there was nothing special about her... which he then also apologised for. Hermione told him to just stop as she actually belly laughed for the first time in months. It stopped people talking at least. It didn’t help her anxiety though.

Everyday without fail just after she woke up Hermione had a minor panic attack when she remember just how much shit she was in. It felt like there was a troll sitting on her chest and she was honestly struggling to cope. It felt so rough and she missed everyone from her time so damn much and whilst it was nice at least to have the familiar faces of Remus and Sirius, she was also surrounded by traitors, Death Eaters and ghosts.

That first week was one of the hardest weeks that she had ever had to endure. She was a stranger and she constantly felt like she was imposing, fear biting at her when she thought of how much she could change by being there. The Gryffindors were great though and were making it a little bit more bearable for her. They made sure they included her in everything they did, even asking her if they could help her at all when they saw how often she was furiously scribbling away on parchment, textbooks surrounding her. But they could only do so much and she felt so incredibly lost without Harry and Ron. Of course they were strong individually but together they became a force to be reckoned with and Hermione didn't know how to face this without them. Hermione painted a smile on her face though, pretended to not know everything she knew and silently she tried to cope with the nightmare she had lived through.

* * *

Hermione was exhausted by the end of the week. It was Friday night and she was curled up in one of the armchairs in the common room with her ruins textbook in her lap. If she closed her eyes it was just like she was back in her own time. Thoughts like that were dangerous though and so she quickly shook the thought from her head and directed her attention back down to the page in front of her. She lost herself in her work, completely oblivious to everyone around her.

“Hermione,” she looked up to find Remus standing before her, a breath of a smile on his lips.

“Remus,” she smiled tiredly as she looked up at him, “what's up?” Hermione couldn't help but find it refreshing every time she looked at him, he was without a doubt a happier person here.

“If you’re not busy we were wondering if you wanted to come and hang out for a bit?”

“Oh,” Hermione was slightly taken aback, wanting to say no and just lose herself in her work but knowing that wouldn’t be the best idea right now. “Yeah okay, sure, this can wait.” She put her book down on the floor by the sofa, knowing no one would touch it. She couldn’t help but feel weary as she followed behind Remus as he lead the way up to the boys dorm.

“We used to all try to get together at least once a week,” he said as they climbed the stairs, filling the silence between them, “it's hard to find a time when we're all free now though, what with Quidditch practice, homework and everything so we kind of just have to grab the chance when we have it.” Hermione couldn't help but envy that; she had never really been that close with the other Gryffindor girls in her own year though thinking about it she wouldn't have really wanted to change that, she already had enough drama in her life with Harry and Ron without adding more to it.

“Are you still in touch with your old friends?” Remus asked, glancing back at her.

“Not at the minute,” she replied honestly, “things are a bit complicated but I'm sure I'll get the chance to talk to them soon enough.”

“Oh, that’s really shit, i’m sorry,” Remus said as he pushed open the boys dormitory door and a surge of anxiety attacked her chest. She looked in to see it bare of any of the things she associated with the boys dormitory that she knew. She looked around in surprise, taking in the muggle band and quidditch posters on the wall alongside the odd family photograph. She let out a shaky breath, Remus turning to her briefly, offering her a kind smile.

“Hermione!” Mary smiled brightly, “Come sit with me,” she immediately beckoned her over to the bed that she was sat on and Hermione didn't hesitate before going over, uttering a greeting to the others that were dotted around the room as well.

“Hey,” she breathed and settled on the edge of it. Hermione couldn't help but look around herself, taking in the little details.

“It's a mess, right,” Mary laughed, “they're bloody tramps. We have to come up here though, our staircase is charmed to stop boys from even setting foot on it.”

“As Sirius found out in first year,” Peter said with a snort. Sirius was laid back on his bed, Remus perched on the end of it. Lily and James were on James’ bed, Dorcas, Marlene and Peter were on his bed and Mary and Hermione had taken Remus’.

“Okay, in my defence it wasn’t just me, it was Remus too,” Sirius said before realisation hit him, “In fact I’m pretty sure it was Remus’ idea-”

“Bullshit!” Remus laughed, turning around and whacking Sirius in the leg, “I was an innocent kid that was being dragged along by you.”

“Innocent,” Dorcas laughed.

“I was! I was lead astray by these three! You know the truth Lily,” Remus laughed, pushing his sandy brown hair out of his eyes and looking at the redhead imploringly.

“Sorry Rem, got to agree with them on this one,” Lily grinned before turning to Hermione, “Hermione, he is not as innocent as he wants you to believe.”

“Traitors and liars the lot of you.” Hermione couldn’t help but laugh, feeling genuinely comfortable with them all in that second. In her tiredness she forgot about why she was there and she forgot about everything she should be feeling towards Peter in particular.

* * *

It was around midnight that the girls finally decided to go to bed and only then did the guilt kick in for Hermione. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling, her tiredness diminished as her mind churned with the conversations she had without thinking had with Peter that night. This was the man that betrayed Lily and James, how could she have just sat there so casually with him? What would Harry say if he found out?

After an hour of tossing and turning Hermione finally gave up and silently she pulled herself from her bed, pulled on her dressing gown and headed back down to the common room. It was deserted except for her so she quietly set up on one of the tables and with a small sigh she got stuck back into her ruins textbook.

The tiredness eventually caught up to her though now that her mind wasn’t focused on her guilt but she pressed on still and worked through the night, her bum eventually going numb, her head propped up with one hand. She was to the point of exhaustion and should have given in to sleep hours ago but guilt kept her rooted there, she needed to make all of this worthwhile.

Eventually she had to stop though, telling herself that she was going to just rest her eyes for two minutes. She allowed them to slip shut but before she knew it Hermione found herself back in the forest. She was wandering, seemingly lost, a sense of panic pulsing through her though she couldn’t figure out why exactly. And then Scabior was there and he was moving gracefully and silently through the trees, heading straight for her. He was getting closer and closer but Hermione found that she couldn’t move, her feet were stuck in the mud. Panic was rising more and more in her chest as she struggled to move but the harder she tried to move the closer Scabior got-

“Hermione?” Hermione gasped, her eyes wide open and panicked. Her heart hammered in her chest as she grabbed her wand from the tabletop, nearly knocking over a bottle of ink in the process.

“Woah, woah, it’s just me, it’s Sirius!” Sirius stood in front of her, his hands up in front of himself defensively.

“Shit,” She breathed, “Jesus christ,” She let Sirius push her wand away, dropping it to the table with a clatter before she held her hand to her chest and she tried to calm it down. She looked at Sirius standing there, hair and clothes dishevelled looking just as shocked as she felt, “shit.”

“You alright?"

“Yeah, you made me jump,” she breathed, looking around herself dazed, thankful there wasn’t anyone else in there with them. Sirius dropped into the chair opposite her with a yawn.

“No shit,” He frowned, “What are you doing down here? I thought you had gone to bed when the others did?”

“I couldn’t sleep so though i’d do a bit of work,” She yawned, trying to hide it from Sirius but failing miserably.

“Which is why I found you fast asleep,” He smiled, “You know it’s nearly 4am? How long you been down here?”

“Couple of hours,” She uttered, glancing down at her textbook.

“You should probably go to bed then,” Sirius suggested before sighing when Hermione shook her head.

“I’ll just do another hour and then I’ll go up,” She uttered, rubbing her eyes before leaning forward and trying to get her eyes to focus on the text again.

“Seriously? Just go to bed already,” Sirius said with raised eyebrows but Hermione couldn’t face that, not when it was possible that she would just fall straight back into that nightmare again.

“Says you, you’re also up.” She watched as he grinned smugly at that and Hermione suddenly regretted bringing his attention to that.

“Well I couldn’t exactly leave Miss Hufflepuff wanting now could I?” Sirius grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes, “and oh did she beg-”

“I don’t want to know,” Hermione cringed and Sirius grinned wider.

“You sure? I bet I could teach you things that you’ll never learn in any of those books that you read Hermione,” He quirked a cheeky smile at her which she imagined was him trying to be flirtatious but all Hermione could think about was the fact that this was Harry’s Godfather; the man that over the years she had had countless arguments with about Kreacher, the man that Harry looked up to so much, the man that had escaped death on the back of a Buckbeak thanks to she and Harry.

“I’m sure,” She finally said, absentmindedly smoothing out the page of the book which had crumpled when she had fallen asleep. Her eyes were so heavy but she couldn’t bring herself to give in yet.

“You’re really going to carry on studying?” Sirius asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Just for a little while longer.”

“In all seriousness, you really should just go up to bed,” Sirius said, frowning at her and crossing his arms across his chest, “Carry on in the morning if you’re that desperate to do work.”

“I’ll go up soon,” She uttered stubbornly. With a sigh Sirius leant forward, propping his head up with his hand as he studied her all the while Hermione tried to ignore him and carry on reading.

“You know it’s not even going to be going in; I bet you’ll have forgotten all of this by morning,” She didn’t respond so he sighed again and leant back in the chair, pushing it back so that it was rocking on two legs, his arms folded across his chest, “I will wake Remus up if I have to.

“And what would that accomplish?” Hermione sighed, looking up to his satisfaction.

“He’s a prefect, so whilst I can only threaten you he can actually punish you for being up way past your bedtime,” Sirius grinned, “Plus he loves his sleep so he’d be pretty pissed at being dragged out of bed at this hour full stop.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“You are also up ‘way past your bedtime’.”

“Pfft,” He breathed, “I’m a special circumstance.”

“Oh yeah? Couldn’t sleep until you got your rocks off?” She spoke tiredly, dropping her eyes back to her book.

“Something like that,” He said before looking at her pointedly, “I’m serious though, I will wake him up if you don’t go to bed.”

“Don’t be so petty.”

“I’m not being petty,” Sirius scoffed, running a hand through his hair, “You just need to sleep so that you can actually be social tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Fine... have it your way,” Sirius leant back in his chair, cupped her hands around his mouth before shouting “Remus!” Hermione almost leapt out of her chair, his voice loud and uncomfortable through the otherwise silent common room.

“Shut up you idiot!” She hissed, eyes wide, “You’ll wake everyone up!”

“Not my fault-”

“For heaven’s sake! Fine! I’ll go to bed!” She huffed, feeling incredibly flustered as she pushed her chair back harshly before standing.

“Good,” Sirius grinned in satisfaction.

“You’re an absolute idiot.”

“You’ll thank me in the morning,” He said smugly. She didn’t say another word to him as she furiuosly gathered her things, refusing to even meet his eye before heading towards the stairs.

“Goodnight Hermione,” He called to which Hermione said nothing as she head towards the girls dormitory, happy in the knowledge that Sirius couldn’t follow her. She was well and truly pissed off with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all enjoying this - thank you for all of the kudos and comments!


	5. Chapter 5

The weeks were passing by in a blur and before Hermione knew it she had been there a month - time definitely wasn’t a friend of hers anymore. She worked constantly in both an attempt to distract herself as well as to get through the huge list of extra work she needed to tackle alongside her homework.

It was a strange feeling to be somewhere so familiar all the while knowing that she didn’t belong there at all. 

Hermione was exhausted beyond belief but she couldn’t slow down, she couldn’t allow herself to rest, not when Ron and Harry were still being hunted whilst she was safely in Hogwarts. She had to make her time count for something, she couldn’t just be off gallivanting and having fun whilst her best friends were trying to end a war. The Gryffindor students however couldn’t understand her determination and whilst they tried to continue to try and involve her in everything they did, Hermione was growing more and more distant and reluctant as the days went on. 

It was Saturday morning when Hermione rose early again. As soon as the rest of the Gryffindor girls heard her moving around they called sleepily to her in an attempt to get her to stay in with them. She couldn’t relax though, she had allowed herself a relaxed night the night before, chatting to the girls as they all slowly dropped off to sleep. It had been nice at the time but now she felt guilty. 

With the weather dreary and bitter most of the castle hadn’t pulled themselves out of the warmth of the common rooms yet so Hermione found that she was sitting at breakfast alone at the Gryffindor table, a book in her hand. Her concentration started to drift however when she noticed Dumbledore enter the hall and take a seat at the top table. She silently wondered whether he had made any progress with figuring out how to send her home. He hadn’t actually spoken to her since she left the infirmary and she was strongly fighting the urge to chase him, knowing that he would have come to her had he known anything. Not knowing was frustrating her though, especially when there wasn’t really anything she could do about it. 

Finishing her mug of tea with a small sigh she left the Great Hall with her book in hand and bag on her shoulder, heading for the library. Madam Pince raised an eyebrow at the girl that already she knew by name. She watched her with her beady eyes as Hermione headed for one of the back tables, claiming it as her own as she so often did now. Hermione spread her books out alongside rolls of parchment and ink pots with a determination to get through at least two topics.

With her head buried in her books the time flew by, the library still relatively quiet, most of the students enjoying their free time instead of doing work. Hermione was in her own little world though, blocking the rest of the library out as she propped her head up with her hand, fully immersed in what she was writing. Wisps of her fringe were in her face, tickling her cheeks, the rest of her hair tied back in a messy bun, a spare quill holding it in place.

“You know it's Saturday right?” Hermione looked up in surprise to find Reg standing there, holding a couple of large books in his arms. 

“Well aware, are you?” Hermione replied, raising her eyebrows at him. She was honestly surprised to see him, having not seen him around the castle since she had thanked him for helping her.

“I was just checking as I’m not sure what those French lot do on Saturdays but normally we use them to relax,” He said it so matter of factly that it took Hermione aback. She paused for a second, considering him before raising her eyebrows. 

“Well why are you here then?”

“I have homework I need to finish but I can’t imagine you’ve got any left to do with the amount I see you in here.”

“Actually I have a lot of catching up to do,” Hermione said, silently noting that she hadn’t ever noticed him in in the library before but then she realised with a jolt that she never really noticed anyone when she was working.

“Right,” He looked out of place as he just stood there. Hermione was just about to ask him if he needed anything else when he spoke again, “Mind if I join you?”

“Go ahead,” She was taken aback but quickly moved some of the books from the space opposite her as Reg took a seat. She glanced at him, watching as he set up his things before going back to what she was writing. 

Hermione lost herself in her work again, glancing to Reg every once in a while. There was an odd familiarity there but she couldn’t place him anywhere in her own time line no matter how much she searched. 

“Is that everything you have to do?” She glanced up to find the Slytherin looking at her to do list which she had broken down by subject. 

“Mmhm,” She breathed, putting quill to parchment before his voice distracted her again.

“Merlin, you’ve got a lot to get through,” He breathed. 

“Well aware.”

“I could help you with some of this if you want,” He uttered, eyes still on the list. She stared at him in surprise for a second as she took in his offer.

“I thought you were a sixth year?”

“I am,” He shrugged, “But I’m ahead in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions I’m pretty skilled at. Plus some of this stuff I’ve already covered,” He looked up at her from the parchment, “so do you want my help?”

“Sure,” Hermione couldn’t help but smile, “wouldn’t that ruin the whole Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry though? I wouldn’t want your Slytherin buddies bearing down on you for hanging out with me,” Hermione teased as Regulus turned the parchment over, looking at the topics on the back.

“They’ll get over it,” He uttered humourlessly, “Shall I mark the ones I can help with?”

“Yeah okay,” He gave a quick nod. Hermione watched as his shaggy black hair fell over his eyes as he scribbled on her parchment before passing it back to her. 

“Just give me a shout when you get to those ones.”

“Thank you,” She uttered, looking over the list before pausing, “RB?”

“Last names Black,” He uttered and Hermione’s heart dropped into her stomach.

“Regulus Black,” She said, swallowing thickly, “You’re Sirius’ brother.”

“Yeah,” He frowned, “I thought you’d already guessed that?” His eyes seemed to soften slightly as she shook her head. 

“No… though I can definitely see the resemblance now that you mention it.” Hermione felt winded as she looked at the boy opposite her. 

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” Regulus said, with a small smile. She returned it before turning her attention to the list of topics. 

Reg watched as she studied the list, her finger trailing down it to the ones he said he could help with. He had been picking up the courage to talk to her again for a good few weeks but every time he had seen her she had been thoroughly distracted to the point where he actually thought she might be avoiding him. Of course he had been completely wrong.

* * *

The first evening that she spent studying with Regulus was a strange experience. They had agreed to meet at the library after dinner one night and Hermione couldn’t help but feel slightly awkward. Regulus however wasted no time in picking out a topic for them to focus on for that evening; glamour charms. 

They found an empty classroom to practice in, sitting on desks opposite each other. She had been half expecting him to start dithering or messing around but was quietly surprised to see him dive straight in instead.

“So have you touched on these at all?” Regulus asked as he started flicking through his textbook, “You want to be on page 213.”

“No,” She answered, finding the page as well and looking down at the text, her eyes immediately going to the wand directions and committing them to memory.

“Okay well give that a read and then when you’re ready we’ll start practicing,” Regulus said before standing and shrugging his robe off, Hermione immediately did as he said. 

Regulus was an incredibly guarded person. Living with parents like his had hardened and conditioned him to withhold his emotions and now that Sirius and his father had gone from the equation it had only gotten worse for him. Before Hermione had turned up the only person he had really felt comfortable with had been Severus, mainly due to the fact that two years previously Severus had accidentally seen the scars on Regulus’ back and had not only not said a word about them but had also brewed a series of experimental potions which eventually dulled said scars and made them a lot less noticeable. Since then they had become allies. 

Hermione however was something else. When he had first met her she had been so vulnerable and whilst he didn’t know what had happened to her and he knew he had no right to ask her, he could quite easily assume that it had been something awful. The fact that he had seen her at her most vulnerable made it easier for him to be himself with her. 

Throwing his robe to the side he rolled the sleeve of his shirt up, pulling his ink pot and quill out of his bag. He drew a small star on his forearm, looking up for a second as he heard Hermione reading out loud to herself before falling silent again. He couldn’t help but smile in amusement.

“Ready.” He hopped off of the table and pulled it closer to her. They sat opposite one another, his forearm bared. 

“Right okay so we’re going to start small and work up. You need to focus on the star as you say the incantation and make sure your wand is steady, okay?”

“Okay.” Regulus was mildly concerned that she would accidentally cause him harm instead of glamouring the star but still he remained perfectly still, watching her as she concentrated. 

“Removendum talpa,” she spoke clearly, flourishing her wand just a little too much. Nothing happened. 

“Do the wand movement again,” he instructed. Hermione did as he asked, Regulus watching closely for faults, “there,” he stated before pulling his own wand out, “here you need to pull back a little further,” he demonstrated, “and then slow down a little when you circle the star.” She met his eyes for a second and he gave her a small smile of encouragement before sitting back again. “Ready when you are.”

“Removendum talpa,” Hermione said to no prevail. She repeated it again and again, Regulus giving her guidance before finally she got it. He watched the smile appear on her face as the star faded until it was just a dot of shimmering skin on his arm. 

“Good job,” he couldn’t help but smile, hers was so infectious, “Do you want to keep trying it with bigger blots?”

“Definitely,” she beamed and so on it went until Regulus’ entire forearm was a mess of ink and stars hidden beneath a pretty impressive glamour charm. 

“I thought you’d be a pain in the arse to teach but that was actually alright,” he uttered smirking to himself as she guffawed. They’d just left the classroom, Hermione having cast a cleansing charm on his arm before they had left and now they walked side by side. 

“I’m an excellent student I’ll have you know.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he grinned, “just let me know when you’re free to meet again.” He felt awkward as he said it, not wanting to assume that she would still want his help but she smiled and nodded.

“How about tomorrow night?””

“Merlin Hermione, people are going to talk if we’re not careful,” He said it so seriously that he knew from her pause that she wasn’t actually sure if he was joking or not. Regulus couldn’t hold his laugh back then, glancing at her before looking ahead again, “Tomorrow sounds good, same time and place?”

“Sounds perfect,” They came to a stop besides the stairs Regulus needed to head down to get to the dungeons. He looked at her as she chewed her lip before finally she met his eyes, “Thanks for your help Reg, I really do appreciate it, you’re a good teacher. You should look into that as a career.”

“And have to deal with snotty little Gryffindors all day? No thanks,” He smirked, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Reg.” He turned and headed down into the depths of the castle towards the Slytherin common room, his mind on Hermione Granger the entire way.

* * *

As the days wore on with the help of Regulus Hermione had managed to make a pretty big dent in her to do list. They worked well together which was great but it wasn’t really helping Hermione to relax or pace herself and she was unravelling faster with each day that passed.

Her guilt was growing stronger the longer she was there and she couldn’t help but feel even worse when she spent time with those that had some sort of connection to Harry. Overthinking her situation lead to restless nights and when she did finally get to sleep she was plagued with nightmares that had her waking up in a cold sweat, crying. It became common practice for her to end up working until the early hours of the morning when exhaustion eventually would take her and she would be that tired her mind didn’t have the chance to dream. 

She would watch Sirius come and go in the early hours as she sat in the common room alone, neither of them saying a word to the other about it. Sirius would give her a look but that would be it.

It was half way through the second week of December that Hermione nearly unravelled completely. Her nightmares were worse than ever and if they weren’t about everything that had happened with Bellatrix or the Snatchers they were about Harry and Ron being tortured at the hands of Voldemort. What little energy she had was being sucked out of her and it was all becoming too much for her to handle. Hermione pushed herself through though and when she did slip and allow herself to feel sorry for herself she would end up scolding herself and telling herself that she was in a much better position than Ron and Harry were so she really couldn’t complain. 

The cracks were showing though even if it wasn’t obvious to her. 

It was a Wednesday evening when Hermione next secretly met up with Regulus in Slughorn’s classroom after dinner. She hadn’t meant for it to be a secret but when Lily had asked her where she was heading off to in such a hurry she couldn’t help but find herself lying and saying that she was going to the library when she knew full well that she wasn’t going to be stepping foot in there that night. It was a silly lie, one that she wondered whether she would have told had she actually been functioning like a normal well rested teenager.

She and Regulus had started dipping into the potions side of her workload though and she had found that they worked together even better in this environment. He knew potion making well and knew when to offer her help and when to leave her to figure it out herself. He was meticulous and didn’t skim on subjects either which is something she was incredibly thankful for. Hermione was struggling to concentrate that evening though, her mind, amongst other things, on the fact that she had lied to Lily. 

“You know, at the rate that we’re getting through these we could actually slow down a little,” Regulus uttered as he sliced the correct amount of Dandelion roots for both of their potions. 

“Yeah we could,” Hermione uttered half-heartedly, measuring the mice tails and picking out those that were precisely 6.5cm in length. 

“But you won’t,” Regulus smiled to himself, tucking his hair behind his ear. Hermione didn’t answer; she was lost in her thoughts. 

“Granger?”

“Mm?” She looked up to find Regulus staring at her before frowning, “What?”

“Those mice tails aren’t going to escape you know,” He said it so matter of factly and at first she had no idea what he was talking about. She glanced down at her hand though and that’s when she noticed just how tightly she was grasping the glass jar of mice tails - frankly it was a miracle it hadn’t shattered in her grip. She stared tiredly at it for a second before putting the jar down, her hand trembling.

“You okay?” he asked, glancing from her shaking hands and back to her eyes, “You seem a bit out of it tonight,

“Just got a lot on my mind,” In an attempt to distract her hands she grabbed her wand and used it to twist her hair back, also hoping that the cool air on the back of her neck might snap her out of it a bit. 

“Want to talk about it?” He sounded sincere but Hermione felt overwhelmed just at the thought of it. 

“No, it’s okay, I’m alright, I’m just not sleeping very well at the minute,” She said, refusing to meet his eyes as she carried on with what she was doing. 

“Well at least the Christmas break will be here soon, you’ll be able to relax a little.”

“Yeah,” Hermione swallowed thickly. This was going to be her first christmas without any of the Weasleys, she highly doubted she was going to be able to enjoy it. She was alone, completely alone. She swallowed back the tears at that thought, the lump in her throat big enough to choke her.

“Come on, there’s something else you’re not telling me,” Regulus sighed. She hated the way he was looking at her, studying her face and taking in the dark circles beneath her eyes and the way that her eyebrows were permanently knitted together, “I’ve spent enough time with you over the past two weeks to know when something is up with you Granger.”

“I’m fine-“

“Lying doesn’t become you,” he uttered and Hermione couldn’t help but scoff; if only he knew. 

“I feel homesick,” Hermione said instead, figuring it was close enough to the truth. She blinked back the tears, busying herself with sorting the mice tails. 

Regulus had stopped what he was doing completely now and Hermione could see him out of the corner of her eye watching her. She sniffed involuntarily. 

“It’s nearly Christmas, you’ll be able to go home then.”

“I’m staying here over Christmas; my Grandma’s really not well so my mum and dad are looking after her and I’m staying here,” She uttered, the lie easily falling from her lips

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Hermione shrugged, keeping her eyes down. 

“It is what it is,” She exhaled shakily, silently debating with herself before saying what she really wanted to, “I miss my friends.”

Regulus wasn’t sure how to take this turn of conversation, he hadn’t expected her to actually open up. He was concerned though, she clearly had something going on and whilst he wasn’t going to force her to talk he was actually quite relieved that she had opened up at least a little bit. 

“Ohh,” He uttered, trying to tread carefully, not wanting to scare her away, “Do you write to them?”

“It’s… it’s not really practical for me to… it’s complicated,” She swallowed thickly again before wiping her eyes hastily, still avoiding his gaze, “I just wish I could see- oh damnit!” Hermione had added all of the mice tails, including Regulus’ share, to her potion, yellow putrid smoke immediately billowing from the cauldron. 

Regulus was still watching her as she stood there staring at the cauldron, trying to think of a way that she could salvage the potion without having to start all over again. It was no good though, it had been well and truly spoiled. He vanished it without another word before watching as Hermione seemed to crumple in on herself. She sat with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking as tears fell down her cheeks. He stood stock still for a second unsure of what he should do before he pulled his stool closer, resting his hand on her forearm awkwardly.

“Hermione,” He spoke softly, this was way out of his comfort zone, “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” She whimpered, her shoulders shaking harder, “None of this is okay.”

“Let’s call it a day; you can go get an early night and we’ll try again tomorrow,” He tried but she laughed humorlessly.

“There’s no point.”

“It’s fine, you only added too many mice tails-”

“I meant there’s no point in trying to get an early night,” She finally lifted her head from her hands, rubbing at her eyes, “I wouldn’t be able to sleep either way.”

Regulus hesitated, “Insomnia?”

“Nightmares,” She refused to meet his eyes as she confessed this to him and he knew it must’ve taken her a lot courage to finally say all of this outloud just from the way she kept tearing up. How long she had been keeping all of this to herself he didn’t know.

“I’m afraid to go to sleep at night,” Her voice was small and broken as she sniffed, “and then when i finally do get to sleep they’re just so vivid that I wake up too scared to go back to sleep again.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“No,” She breathed, “Sorry Reg, I shouldn’t have- I just-” She was gesturing with her hands around them but he just shrugged.

“It’s fine,” He was honestly relieved they were talking about this, a few of the walls between them having been broken down, “You could take a dreamless sleep draught?”

“I tried asking Madame Pomfrey for one but she said no. I was going to try and brew it myself but it’s restricted and I can’t find the instructions anywhere.”

“I… I actually know someone that makes it,” He hesitated, “He gave me a small vial of it a few weeks ago and it does work. I could get you some?” He suggested knowing just how much trouble he would be in if they were caught. 

“Really?” The hopefulness in her voice made that worry melt away though.

“Yeah, you just can’t tell anyone about it okay?”

“Of course, thank you,” She breathed, “I really owe you for this.”

“Yeah, you do,” He teased, “I’ll let you know what I want when the time comes.” He winked at her, feeling a small bloom of triumph in his chest as she laughed lightly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the love on this so far! It means a lot :)


	6. Chapter 6

Regulus forcibly evicted Hermione from Slughorn’s classroom after her breakdown, making her promise to go back to the Gryffindor common room and switch off for the rest of the night. Whilst she was initially disgruntled about this she did keep her promise and she took the night off and although it felt wrong at first she did have to admit that it was nice to be able to finally breathe again. 

Hermione curled up at the end of the sofa by the fire, leaning against the arm with a muggle book in her hand. It was one that Remus, when he had realised just how much she loved to read, had insisted that she borrow. It had been a sweet gesture and his passion about the book had been even more enticing. So now she sat in the common room, cosy and warm, reading for pleasure for the first time in a long time and enjoying the sound of the wind and rain lashing against the windows. Hermione felt calm. 

Since Hermione had been back she hadn’t seen any of the other Gryffindor seventh years and whilst she thought it odd she couldn’t help but find that she was actually enjoying the silence. It was easy to pretend she was back in her own time when it was like this. 

“Hermione, Hermione, Hermione,” As if on cue the silence was quickly broken and she reluctantly tore her eyes away from her book to find Sirius standing at the end of the sofa. She raised her eyebrows slightly at him.

“Yes Sirius?” 

“May I?” He asked, gesturing to the empty seat beside her.

“Sure,” She couldn’t get her head around this Sirius. The Sirius she had known had been so different or perhaps she was just seeing a side of Sirius that she had been too young to meet in her own time. This Sirius was an absolute flirt, she learnt that quickly. He turned on the charm whenever he could get away with it, his happy go lucky attitude reluctantly being one of her favourite things about him. This Sirius tended to brighten her day even when he was being infuriatingly annoying. 

“I thought you’d be with the girls,” Sirius said, breaking through Hermione’s thoughts and she just shrugged slightly. 

“I don’t know where they are.” 

“Prefects bathroom,” Sirius responded in confusion, “I heard Mary asking you if you wanted to go with them at dinner.”

“Oh,” She put her book down to find Sirius frowning at her much like Regulus had earlier, “I didn’t hear,” she paused, “What are they doing in there?”

“Girl things,” Sirius shrugged, still frowning, “I definitely heard Mary tell you about it earlier.”

“It’s been a long week,” Hermione said dismissively. 

“It’s only Wednesday.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that it’s been a long week,” She tried to joke but Sirius saw it then, saw the tiredness in her eyes as she looked back at him. 

“Anything I can do to help?” This took Hermione aback slightly; she had been expecting him to tease her for that comment but instead he was looking at her in earnest. 

“No, it’s okay, thank you. I just need a good night’s sleep.”

“No working until stupid o’clock in the morning then?”

“Not tonight,” Hermione smiled tiredly.

“I should probably take a leaf out of your book, these late nights are killing me too.”

“Oh I’m sure they are,” Hermione breathed out a small laugh. 

“Jealous?” He asked and Hermione couldn’t help but scoff.

“Oh please,” She bristled, going back to her book after giving Sirius a look of contempt. 

“Well you’re not denying it,” he teased, grinning at her cheekily. She blushed and slapped her book down on her lap. 

“Sirius, I am not jealous, I just don’t want to hear about your sexcapades,” She said pointedly, “If you really want to talk to someone about them go and find James, I’m reading.”

“But you’re always doing work,” He groaned, lolling dramatically on the sofa, “Don’t you ever stop?”

“I’m not working, I’m  _ trying _ to read a book that Remus leant me.”

“Wait,” He sat up in surprise, “You’re not working? Well why aren’t we doing something?”

“Because I just told you, I’m trying to read.”

“You can read later,” Sirius shrugged, standing and holding his hand out to her. She simply sat there, eyebrows raised, “Come on.”

“It’s half an hour until curfew,” Hermione argued but Sirius grinned in response.

“You always see me coming back to the common after curfew Hermione, we’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to risk it-“

“Oh come on,” He groaned, “I know the paths that the teachers don’t take, we’ll be fine. I haven’t been caught for a good few years.”

“Sirius, no.” He stood there pouting.

“Pleeease Hermione, there’s this really cool thing that I want to show you,” He uttered, “I’ve been dying to show you for ages but you’ve always been too busy. Now would be the perfect time to go” Hermione stared at him in surprise for a second. 

“Why? What is it?”

“It’s just really cool,” He laughed, “Look I can’t ruin the surprise and you wouldn’t believe me even if I did tell you.” She studied his face, trying to work out if this was one of his pranks. 

“Sirius, I don’t know-“

“Come on, please,” He knelt beside the sofa, giving her his best puppy dog eyes, “We’ll be like an hour tops.”

“And if we get caught?”

“We won’t, honest – I know all of the hidden passageways in this place, the routes the teachers take, which night’s they’re on duty. We’ll be fine, I swear to you.” Hermione considered him for a second, silently wondering what harm it would do to humour him. She thought of the Marauders Map and how no one knew Hogwarts better than the Marauders. 

“Seriously, I’ve been sneaking around here for the past seven years.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Really?” He beamed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Yes.”

“Great!” He plucked the book out of her hand and placed it on the table, “Let's go then!”

* * *

Together they walked down the hall, Sirius talking excitedly in a hushed voice about a prank that he, James, Remus and Peter had pulled on the Slytherin Quidditch team earlier that day. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him as he described in detail how they made flowers sprout out of every spot on the keeper’s face.

“Where are we going exactly?” She asked, cutting Sirius off mid sentence when she noticed that they seemed to be going around in circles on the moving staircases. She was starting to get paranoid, it was getting closer to curfew and they were soon going to have to watch their backs. 

“You’ll see,” He winked.

“We’re going around in circles,” She stated, raising an eyebrow at him. They were stood on one of the staircases, waiting for it to hit the landing. 

“Actually we’re not,” Sirius smiled, stepping up onto the landing as they reached it, Hermione following him, “Most people assume that they move randomly but there is actually a pattern.”

“Oh,” Hermione uttered, taken aback by the fact that Sirius knew something so big about the castle that she didn’t. She thought at this point she knew the majority of its secrets. 

“So whilst it may seem like we’re going around in circles, it’s actually the quickest way of getting there.”

“Are you lying?” She asked suspiciously and he laughed, coming to a stop on the staircase as it moved, swinging them to the right suddenly.

“No, He smiled, “I don’t lie.” She raised her eyebrows at that.

“Sure you don’t.”

“I don’t. Come on, this way,” Hermione almost smiled when she realised exactly where they were; the third floor corridor. She wondered in amusement whether the thing that he wanted to show her was a puppy version of Fluffy. She knew it wasn’t possible but it still made her smile slightly as they walked.

“Where exactly are we going, Sirius?” Hermione asked, suddenly hyper aware that he was actually leading them straight for the room that had, all jokes aside, ultimately lead Harry, Hermione and Ron to Voldemort in their first year. She felt a ball of anxiety tighten in her chest.

“Just wait and see,” He turned to her grinning, stopping in front of the very door that Hermione was afraid to step inside of. She watched as he slowly turned the handle, her breath catching in her throat. Sirius pushed it open a little, glanced around them before silently slipping inside, Hermione close behind him. 

“Lumos.” Hermione immediately looked around, her heart hammering in her chest; the room was empty and she found herself exhaling in relief. She pulled out her own wand and whispered ‘lumos’ as well.

“This way.” Hermione’s heart leapt as she stepped over what she could only assume was the trap door that she, Harry and Ron had gone down. They didn’t stop though, Sirius leading them towards the back of the room where a large wooden door stood.

“Alohomora,” He whispered and Hermione heard the lock click open. He put his lit wand between his teeth and placed both of his hands flat against the door before using his entire body weight to push it open just enough for them to slip through. They entered another room, Hermione looking around, windows surrounding them. Hermione could just make out brick on the other side of the dirty glass and she was about to question it when Sirius pulled a small long knife out of his pocket. She recognised it immediately as the one that his older self gave to Harry and that small reminder was enough to jolt her. He worked the catch on the window, Hermione watching in silence as it eventually sprang loose, the glass swinging creakily towards them.

“Sirius…” She finally spoke unsurely as they faced the brick that had been behind the glass.

“Follow me and make sure you shut the window behind you,” Hermione frowned, uttering a small ‘okay’, her eyes trained on Sirius as he pulled himself carefully up on to the small windowsill before pressing his palm to the brick. Hermione’s jaw dropped as the brick shuddered and faded, revealing a passageway that was only just big enough to crawl through.

“Sirius where are we?” She asked in awe but he had already started crawling ahead of her. Her heart thudded in her chest, thinking of all of the questions that she had as she followed his lead, pulling herself up onto the windowsill and into the tunnel. With difficulty she pulled the window shut behind her and immediately the wall sealed itself again. Feeling slightly claustrophobic she crawled after Sirius quickly, her knees scraping uncomfortably against the cold stone. After what felt like an eternity she watched as Sirius pulled himself around, sitting on the edge of the passageway as he got to the end of the tunnel. He glanced back at her to make sure she was okay before he dropped down into the room. 

There was an odd glow coming from the room but Hermione couldn’t work out what it was from within the tunnel. She edged closer curiously, swinging her legs around, perching on the edge of the tunnel. At first she looked down at Sirius who was waiting to help her down, the tunnel higher up the wall on this side than she had expected but then she looked up towards the glow, not being able to help but gasp at what was above her; there, in the ceiling of the room, swirled a thousand stars, a whole galaxy shimmering and glittering like she had never seen before. 

“Incredible isn’t it,” Sirius breathed, his usual cockiness gone from his voice. Hermione looked down to him and she couldn’t help but smile brightly before looking back to the ceiling. 

“What is it? Where are we?” She asked before allowing him to give her a hand in jumping down. Immediately she looked up again. 

“I have no idea,” Sirius said, looking at her with a small smile as she stared up in wonder. How could she possibly still be in Hogwarts. The room was twice the size of the Gryffindor common room and it was entirely empty except for the ceiling which swirled in purples and blues. 

“Is it real?” 

“I don’t know, I sure as hell hope it is,” Sirius smiled, sitting down on the stone floor and leaning back against the wall. Hermione followed his lead. 

“How did you even find this place? Or even work out how to get this far?”

“Remus found the room with the windows last year and showed us - naturally we were curious. It was Peter that worked out this one actually lead anywhere last month.”

“Does anyone else know about it?” 

“Just me, you, Remus, Peter, James and Lily.”

“Have you ever brought anyone else here?” She asked, all the while her eyes trained on the stars, not wanting to miss a single details. 

“No.”

“Bullshit,” She smiled, glancing at him.

“I haven’t,” He laughed, smiling coyly at her as she scoffed, “I’ve thought about it but do you really think I actually trust any of those other girls to keep their mouths shut about it? It’s not worth the hassle. I’d rather keep it our little secret.”

“I’m honoured you trust me.”

“I trust your thirst for knowledge,” He spoke, “You’re just like Remus.” She turned to looked at him, his face illuminated by the constellations above them, his eyes wide and curious as he studied the stars.

“What?” He finally spoke, taking her off guard as he looked at her.

“Nothing.”

“No, what?” He grinned but she shook her head, looking back up. 

“You just surprise me, that’s all.”

“I’m not the dickhead you thought I was?” He asked with a laugh, Hermione smiling.

“I never thought you were a dickhead.” Sirius looked at her for a second before looking back up at the ceiling, not saying anything further.

* * *

It was easy to lose track of time in there, Hermione’s mind in overdrive as she tried to figure out how and why the stars were there. She was so tired though, her eyes eventually drooping, lulled by the darkness of the room.

“Hermione,” She stirred, struggling to keep her eyes open, “come on, we should probably go back, it’s late.” She tried to open her eyes again, seeing swirls of purple and white before shutting them again. 

“No,” She murmured, wanting nothing more than anything to just shut her eyes and carry on sleeping. Sirius chuckled from beside her.

“Yes,” He smiled softly, “Your neck won’t thank you if you fall asleep in here.” She stubbornly kept her eyes closed, “plus if we’re any long those lot are going to start thinking that we’re screwing around.”

“Screw you,” She mumbled tiredly in response, making him laugh as he pulled himself up.

“Come on kitten,” He uttered and Hermione opened her eyes in surprise at that, she hadn’t heard Sirius Black call her that in years. She let him pull her up, following Sirius as he lead the way back, Hermione staying close to him. She allowed him to navigate the halls, Hermione too sleepy to think for herself just glad that he himself still had his wits about him. 

They fell through the portrait hole much to the disappointed tutting of the Fat Lady and Hermione couldn’t help but pull Sirius to a stop before they headed off to their own separate dormitories. 

“Thank you for tonight,” She spoke earnestly, Sirius smiling and shrugging in response.

“It’s alright – I did tell you I thought it would be something you’d be interested in.”

“Well you weren’t wrong,” Hermione breathed out a laugh. 

“We’ll go again when you’re next taking a break from studying your ass off... so next year sometime.”

“Ha, ha,” She smiled, “thank you Sirius.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Hermione studied his face for a second before turning and heading up to the girls dormitory.

* * *

Sirius entered the seventh year dormitory, Hermione still on his mind as he headed over to his bed.

“Lumos,” Remus’ wand illuminated his bed. Sirius blinked, wincing from the sudden brightness.

“Must you?” He grumbled, shielding his eyes.

“Lily’s going to kill you,” Remus uttered tiredly, Sirius pulling his clothes off and climbing into bed, “Do you not remember her telling you explicitly to not fuck around with Hermione.”

“I wasn’t fucking around with her,” Sirius uttered, rolling his eyes, “And she’s not going to know I was with her unless you tell her Prongs.”

“She already knows,” Remus spoke and Sirius groaned, dropping his head onto his pillow. 

“Great, thanks for that one mate.”

“She was worried about her – she hadn’t seen Hermione after dinner and then when she didn’t come back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew she was starting to panic.”

“Right.”

“Don’t shoot the messenger-“

“You’re meant to be on my side mate.”

“I am but you know this is your own fault after what happened with Dorcas.”

“I apologised for that,” Sirius sighed, “Anyway I just told you, I wasn’t fucking around with Hermione.”

“You took her to the room with the stars.”

“Yeah, so?”

“We agreed not to take girls there.”

“I told you it wasn’t like that Moons, seriously listen to me for once – we agreed not to use the room to pull girls and I wasn’t trying to pull Hermione.”

“Sure you weren’t,” Remus laughed, his face illuminated by his wand still and Sirius rolled his eyes.

“I actually wasn’t.”

“You’ve been dying to take her there since she started – which by the way we told you not to every time you brought it up.”

“I just knew she would appreciate it. And guess what, she did.”

“You actually like her, don’t you?” James’ sleepy voice rang out and Sirius scoffed. 

“Not in the way you’re thinking. I don’t have time to date girls, you lot know that.”

“No you just screw around with them instead,” James laughed.

“Exactly.”

“Guys,” Peter piped up with a groan, “I’ve got a test in the morning, can you not do this later.”

“Sorry Wormy,” Sirius laughed lightly before turning his attention back to Remus one last time, “Believe me, I’m not going to hurt her, she’s a mate, that’s it.”

“Mm,” Remus eyed him, “Nox.” The room fell to darkness again, the rustling of duvets being heard around it as the Marauders settled down. 


	7. Chapter 7

Over the following few days Hermione found that she was actually starting to sleep better; dreaming of starry skies and galaxies which she couldn’t quite touch. The dreams left her feeling bright and slightly elated come morning and the Gryffindor girls couldn’t help but notice the difference. 

“Okay, I know you said nothing is going on between you and Sirius but seriously girl, you’ve been walking on sunshine since you two did your little disappearing act,” Mary uttered, making no attempt to lower her voice as they walked. Hermione had in fact been spending more time with Sirius over the past few days but it was comical to her that Mary thought it was anything more than friendship that was blossoming between them. 

“I’m just sleeping a bit better at the minute,” Hermione laughed, rolling her eyes. They were heading down to breakfast and it was Hermione’s cheerful humming that had prompted her roommate to question her.

“…because of Sirius,” Mary asked with a grin. 

“No, you conspiring woman!” Hermione laughed heartily, “Do you really think I have time to be messing around with boys? You’ve seen the amount of work I have to get through. 

“I’m just saying what I’m seeing,” Mary shrugged, her blonde hair framing her face innocently, “it’s not my fault you two leave nothing to the imagination.”

“You’re got an overactive imagination more like.”

* * *

The majority of the students were already at breakfast, Hermione and Mary running late after the latter had lost one of her shoes; Hermione however was starting to wonder if it had been on purpose to try and pry some details from her privately.

“Morning,” Hermione uttered, dropping into the space beside Peter whilst Mary sat opposite her, beside Dorcas. They were greeted briefly before the rest of the Gryffindor’s fell back into their conversation.

“Well I’m just saying, you couldn’t get me to stay even if you paid me,” Marlene smiled, pouring her orange juice, hair bright blue for once, “I feel like I hardly get to see mum and dad as it is.”

“It’s not too bad to be honest, it’s just strangely quiet,” Peter shrugged and James suddenly barked out a laugh, slapping Peter on the back. 

“Oh I had forgotten you stayed behind last year Pete!” He laughed, “Madeline Nelly, oh merlin-”

“Ah yes,” Sirius grinned, joining in as Peter flushed red, “The Christmas Peter got far more than he bargained for,” Sirius laughed loudly alongside James, Peter grumbling something under his breath. 

“Are you going home Hermione?” She glanced up to Remus and she couldn’t help but frown slightly in confusion.

“Home?” She asked dumbly and he quirked a smile at her.

“Yeah, for Christmas,” it dawned on her then what they were talking around, the days of December creeping past her unnervingly fast. She glanced down at her tea, her heart dropping into her stomach as a sense of desperation flooded her. 

“Oh,” She swallowed thickly before lifting her eyes back to Remus’, “No, I’ll be staying.”

“You’re staying?” Sirius interrupted in surprise, “I thought for sure you’d be going home.”

“No, mum and dad have got enough on their plates with my grandma being unwell,” Hermione uttered, leaving the excuse at that even though she was well aware of how poor it was.

“Are any of you staying?” She asked, determined to move the conversation away from herself. 

“Just me and Peter,” Remus answered, Hermione feeling unnerved as she realised the wolf was watching her with a slight frown. She was about to respond when James beat her to it, Hermione shutting her mouth and looking back down at her plate, an uncomfortable prickle doing up the back of her neck. 

“Don’t let Nelly know,” He laughed, Lily slapping him on the arm and telling him to shut up.

“Dad wants me to use the time to study,” Peter uttered, ignoring James and Sirius’ jibes and turning to Hermione, missing how uncomfortable she suddenly looked, “not that it’ll help like.”

“I wish you wouldn’t worry, you’ll pass your exams with flying colours Peter,” Mary smiled kindly, Dorcas nodding in agreement.

“Doubt it-”

“The only class your behind in is transfiguration and that’s because you’re constantly being distracted by those buffoons,” Dorcas uttered sharply.

“Yeah I’ve seen what you can do when they’re not distracting you, you’re really good,” Mary grinned, Peter straightening up at the compliment. 

“Thanks,” He smiled and Sirius whistled loudly.

“Well would you just look at these two flirting,” He grinned, narrowly missing the piece of toast that was thrown at him by an unamused Mary.

“You’re one to talk,” Mary shot back, directing a look at Hermione which she completely missed. She was too distracted now, her mood shot as her mind wandered to the Christmas she had recently endured, realising she wasn’t sure if she was ready for another quite so soon.

* * *

It wasn’t long before they had to get to class, Hermione having Ancient Ruins first period. She was pretty unresponsive as they walked out, Mary coming up beside her.

“You okay?” She asked softly, hooking her arm with Hermione’s, “You were walking on sunshine half an hour ago and now you look like someone ate that sunshine.” Hermione forced a smile, looking to Mary, studying her worried eyes briefly. 

“It’s just going to be weird not being home for Christmas,” Hermione admitted quietly, “Christmas has come along quicker than I expected.”

“Is there no chance at all that you could go home?”

“No,” Hermione sighed, knowing she was going to have to come up with a better reason quick, “it’s my grandma… her memory isn’t what it used to be, she forgets who I am and it distresses her. It’s much better for everyone if I just stay here.”

“I’m sorry,” Mary spoke and Hermione felt guilt rain down on her at the lie she had told.

“Just one of those things,” Hermione uttered, completely unaware of the wolf behind her that was watching her and listening to every flutter of her heart as it raced at the lie she had told. 

“Granger!” Hermione turned in surprise, not being able to help the smile that appeared on her lips at the sight of Regulus. He was walking towards her, avoiding the eyes of the Gryffindors around her.

“You guys head on,” Hermione uttered to Mary, “I’ll see you later.” Hermione didn’t wait for a response before leaving the group, Mary glancing to her curiously whilst Dorcas whispered something to James.

“I haven’t seen you all week,” She said and he shrugged, his hand going to his neck. 

“Yeah, some stuff came up…” He looked guilty, Hermione about to ask what was wrong but he carried on talking, not giving her the chance to, “I’m free Sunday though so we could go through some of those seventh year potions if you want?”

“Yeah sure,” Hermione smiled, “If you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine. After lunch would be best if that’s good with you?”

“Sounds like plan. I’ll meet you in Slughorn’s classroom.” He nodded, seeming distracted as he studied her face for a second before digging his hand into the pocket of his robes. 

“I got you that thing you wanted, do you still need it? You’re looking a lot better to be honest,” He clenched the vial tightly, out of view of any straying eyes. 

“Yeah I still need it – the nightmares have stopped at the minute but I have a feeling they’re going to be coming back again soon,” Hermione sighed, thoughts of Christmas now eating away at her. 

“Okay, well it’s just a couple of drops before you go to sleep, anymore and you’ll have the shittest headache ever when you wake up,” He stepped closer to her, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about this,” He uttered, taking Hermione by surprise as his hand went to her hip, dropping the vial into the pocket of her robes. His mouth hesitated beside her ear for a second; to anyone else it looked like he was just whispering something to her, “Especially not the asshole that’s staring daggers at us right now.” Regulus stepped away and Hermione turned her head in surprise to find Sirius leaning against the wall, watching the pair of them as he waited for Hermione. He raised his eyebrows at her slightly and she couldn’t help but blush, turning back to the Slytherin before her. 

“Thank you,” She breathed.

“I’ll see you Sunday,” He uttered with a nod. She watched as Regulus turned and headed back into the hall. Without thinking she dropped her hand into her pocket, feeling the small vial there. 

Hermione turned quickly, knowing she was going to be late for class if she didn’t hurry. Heading down the corridor it wasn’t long before Sirius was matching her stride. 

“Don’t you have transfiguration?” She asked, glancing to him. 

“What was that about?”

“He’s helping me with some potions, what is it to you?” She couldn’t help but ask, her eyebrows raised as she glanced at him again. He was looking straight at her, frowning. 

“What did he give you?”

“Nothing,” Hermione shrugged but Sirius stepped in front of her then, stopping her in her tracks. She knew it was a stupid response to give but if she even showed the vial to him she knew he would know what it was straight away and she didn’t want to have that conversation.

“That wasn’t nothing, what did he give you?”

“He didn’t give me anything,” Hermione forced out a laugh, stepping around the older Black and carrying on walking, her eyes straight ahead. 

“Why are you lying?” Sirius asked sharply, Hermione ignoring him until he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop, “Hermione answer me!” She winced.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” She ripped her arm out of his hold; harsher than necessary but the second his fingers had dug down into the scar on her arm she had had enough. 

“Hermione-” His eyes hardened. 

“What Reg wanted to speak to me about is none of your business whatsoever. Now may I leave? I don’t particularly want to be late for class,” Her voice was hard, Sirius’ stare harder. He didn’t say another word so Hermione took that as her cue to leave, stalking away from him, her hand going to her forearm with a wince as she went. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a piece of shit when it comes to updating and I'm incredibly sorry. Thank you for all of the love on this!


	8. Chapter 8

In turn, throughout the day, each of the Gryffindor girls asked Hermione what Regulus had wanted with her that morning. They, unlike Sirius, accepted her response that he was helping her with her potions and didn’t push it further. Well, all except Mary who winked and uttered that Hermione apparently had a thing for the Blacks. Hermione rolled her eyes at that, uttering in response that Sirius had barely acknowledged her since. 

As Friday flowed into the weekend Sirius’ mood did seem to improve though and he was back to joking around with her when he yet again returned at 1am in high spirits whilst she was working. It broke the ice and Hermione was thankful for it though at the back of her mind she was finding it a little irritating how much she cared about Sirius’ opinion. 

Her fear of sleep had also faded with the help of Regulus’ potion. She was grateful for it; during the day her mind was constantly being filled with the memories of the christmas just gone, when Nagini tried to kill she and Harry but still her nights were peaceful at least. It was a miracle in her eyes and although she still felt exhausted it wasn’t quite as bad as if she had not slept at all. She was trying to make sure that she used the potion sparingly though, well aware that there was a reason why it was a restricted potion and why Madame Pomfrey had refused to give her it in the first place. 

Hermione was making a steady progress through her work list, now well and truly past the halfway point. It was a relief and by the time it came to Sunday she actually allowed herself to relax a bit before she had to meet Regulus. She ended up choosing to spend the time with Marlene and Mary, giving in to their constant requests to make her over, knowing no harm could come from allowing herself to be pampered for a while at least. 

“You have gorgeous hair,” Marlene moaned in jealousy as she ran a comb through it, Hermione’s hair snapping back into curls with every pull. Hermione felt relaxed and at ease, sitting cross legged on Mary’s bed between the two witches. 

“I’ve always hated it,” Hermione couldn’t help but smile, “I used to get teased about it at Beauxbatons.”

“Seriously?” Marlene asked incredulously, “Well the French don’t know what they’re talking about – you have natural volume for one! My hair is as flat as a pancake without tons of Witch Up.”

“She’s not kidding either,” Mary smiled, “We had to ban her from using Witch Up in here; we were waking up in a cloud of pink every morning.” She was concentrating on Hermione’s face as she spoke, a light foundation in hand.

“You should let us make you up for the Spring Ball.”

“Spring Ball?” Hermione repeated, frowning slightly until Mary told her off, insisting that she needed to relax her face. 

“Yeah… you know, that thing we all keep going on about,” Marlene said in amusement and Mary sat back for a second, staring at Hermione as she searched her mind for conversations where they had mentioned a Spring Ball but she was coming up blank.

“You really don’t remember do you?” Mary laughed in astonishment, “You know you really are completely oblivious to the world around you sometimes.”

“It’s just before the Easter break.”

“What’s it for?” Hermione asked in surprise, wondering mildly what else she had missed in passing conversation just because she had been so lost in her own thoughts. 

“You don’t need a reason to dance,” Marlene grinned and Mary rolled her eyes. 

“It’s just a bit of fun before all the revision and exams start.”

“We usually go dress shopping in January in Hogsmeade – they have some surprisingly decent sales there and Dorcas knows the guy that works in one of the shops so that helps too.”

“I probably won’t go-” Hermione started to say, remembering how much of a farce the Yule Ball had ended up being for her. Plus she had no money to buy a dress.

“Oh but you have to!” Marlene frowned, putting both of her hands on Hermione’s shoulders from behind her, “It’s so much fun.”

“Yeah,” Mary pined, “And don’t repeat this but the guys usually manage to get their hands on some drinks so the party usually carries on back here.”

“Plus it’s going to be our last one before we finish school so you have to go,” Mary pouted, sitting back on her heels. Hermione looked at her and then glanced back at Marlene. In her heart she was hoping to be back in her own time come March so she supposed agreeing now wasn’t going to do any harm when she wouldn’t actually be there when it came around. 

“Please,” Marlene uttered from behind her.

“Okay, fine,” Hermione smiled, “I’ll go.”

“Brilliant!” Marlene grinned whilst Mary squee’d before leaning back in, now armed with a lip pencil. 

“Seriously though, it’s always such a good night.”

“Did you ever have any dances at Beauxbatons?” Mary asked, leaning back again to allow Hermione to speak. 

“We just had one; the Yule Ball. It was in my fourth year and it was on Christmas day so that was pretty special.

“Yule Ball? Oh it even sounds whimsical! I bet the French really know how to party don’t they.”

“Yeah, it was pretty incredible,” Hermione smiled, thinking back to her first dance with Viktor; he had been a true gentleman that night. 

“Oh, I know that smile,” Mary grinned, “Who was he?” Hermione couldn’t help but blush, her smile widening, not realising how transparent she could be at times. She was used to having this kind of conversation with Ginny but she had known Ginny for years, this was different… it was freeing in a way. 

“His name was Viktor,” Hermione laughed as Mary raised her eyebrows in appreciation, “we weren’t dating, not really-”

“But you fancied him?”

“A bit,” Hermione smiled but then it faltered as she thought of Ron. 

“What happened?”

“My friend ruined it. We had a massive argument and it just kind of put a downer on the night.”

“Oh,” Marlene uttered, “That’s such a shame.”

“I can promise you that won’t happen at ours. You’re free to do what you want; you can take a date if you want to or you can just come with us. You never know, little Black might be interested-”

“You don’t have to go with dates?” Hermione asked in surprise, choosing to ignore her comment about Regulus. 

“Nope.”

“Some guys still like to ask though,” Mary spoke, “It’s usually the purebloods.”

“They’re the ones with tradition after tradition forced on them after all,” Marlene uttered, her comb going back to Hermione’s hair as she teased her curls. 

“Are you two pureblood?” Hermione asked curiously. 

“I am,” Marlene answered, “got the Metamorphmagus traits from my great grandmother on my dad’s side. They’re not strict like a lot of other families though, they just happened to actually fall in love with other purebloods – I guess it’s the circles of friends you’re in. I’m lucky, there’s no pressure for me.”

“That’s good then,” Hermione smiled before being told to pucker her lips under Mary’s instruction. 

“I’m half-blood,” Mary uttered, slightly distracted as she applied lipstick to her lips, “you said your dad’s a dentist didn’t you? So I’m guessing you’re half-blood too? Rub your lips together.”

“I’m amazed you remembered that,” Hermione laughed lightly, doing as she was told as she rubbed her lips together, “Yeah my dad’s a dentist - my mum is too; I’m muggleborn.”

“Lily is muggleborn as well, Dorcas is half-blood,” Mary smiled, studying Hermione’s face as she sat back, “And you my love, are done.” She admired her work with a small smile of satisfaction, gesturing for Marlene to look. 

“Oh you look amazing,” Marlene smiled, before teasing her hair at the front a little more. 

“Come look,” Mary was pulling Hermione off of the bed before standing her in front of the mirror. Hermione couldn’t help but stare at herself in surprise; she looked like a different person. 

“Do you like it?” Marlene asked hopefully as Hermione touched her hair tentatively. It was one of the few times that Hermione had actually looked at her hair and been satisfied with what she saw. She had no idea what product Marlene had used but all of the frizz had gone from her curls, leaving them smooth and spiralling. Her makeup was just as striking; her eyes heavy with mascara, a light shimmering blue eyeshadow on her lids, her cheeks pink and lips nude. She was in awe. 

“I love it,” She breathed, fluttering her eyelashes in the mirror, her smile widening. 

“Are you sure?” Marlene scrunched up her face and Hermione couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes!”

“Oh I’m so glad you like it,” Mary beamed, “So will you let us make you up for the Spring Ball?”

“Yes of course,” She grinned, looking in the mirror again, feeling like a different person.

* * *

Removing the eyeshadow and lipstick Hermione kept the rest of the make up on, not wanting to get rid of all of Mary’s hard work. She was in a good mood, glad to have taken the time to sit with Marlene and Mary that morning. Lily had gushed as soon as she had seen Hermione at lunch, telling her how good she looked and how the mascara really made her eyes pop. The compliments felt nice and whilst Hermione didn’t usually mind herself with conversations about makeup and girly things, she couldn’t help but enjoy the change but it wasn’t long before Hermione knew that she needed to excuse herself, well aware of the fact that Regulus would be waiting for her already in Slughorn’s classroom.

As she walked down to the dungeons she couldn’t help but wonder what Harry and Ron would’ve thought of the makeup. She had worn makeup before with them of course, Bill and Fleur’s wedding as of recent, but there was just something so striking about the 70s look which was outrageously over the top but also quite natural at the same time.

The air chilled as she headed down the potions corridor, only a few students milling around, all of them sans robes. Hermione hugged hers to herself though, it far too cold to take it off – she was clearly a Gryffindor through and through. With a shiver she stepped into Slughorn’s classroom, seeing Regulus had already started working on a potion. 

“Hey you,” She smiled, about to bound over to him when she suddenly noticed the looming figure exiting the store cupboard, her smile dropped immediately. 

“Hey Granger - this is Severus, he said he’ll help us with those seventh year potions you missed,” Regulus uttered, glancing up from his potion and gesturing to the other student that was watching her as he went to Regulus’ side. Hermione’s heart thundered in her chest as she painted the smile back onto her face, hoping neither of them had noticed. 

“Oh,” She breathed, stepping towards the two of them cautiously, “I think you’re in my potions class aren’t you?”

“Yes,” He drawled sharply and immediately Hermione’s back was up with the cold stare he was giving her.

“Good, you’re already acquainted then. Which one did you say we’re working on-” Regulus paused, cutting himself off mid sentence as he looked at Hermione, “You look different.” Hermione couldn’t help but blush, suddenly hyper aware of Severus’ eyes on her as well. 

“Marlene and Mary were experimenting on me,” she uttered uncomfortably. Regulus seemed to consider this silently, studying her face a second longer before pulling himself out of it. 

“Right… anyway, what are we working on?”

“Are you sure you’re ready or do you wish to stare at Granger’s face a little longer?” Severus asked snidely and Hermione glared at him. 

“I’m ready,” Regulus said, breathing out a laugh in an attempt to try and defuse the tension between them all. 

“You’re both going to attempt the Vergitum antidote,” Severus said with an air of indifference, “I don’t expect either of you to get it right first time. The potion cures-” Hermione bristled at his tone; he seemed even cockier as a student than he had as a teacher.

“Cures balance issues caused by the perridon hex,” Hermione interrupted haughtily, “it’s tricky to brew but I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

“We’ll see, won’t we,” Severus bit back, looking down his nose at her. Regulus looked between the two of them, sighing slightly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so much for the comments! You guys are the absolute best!


	9. Chapter 9

To say Hermione’s day had gone downhill would be an understatement. It was clear to her now that Severus Snape was an asshole and had always been one. Throughout the entire session he had looked down his nose at Hermione, berating her work much like he would do in her own time. She imagined that although she didn’t have Harry here with her the fact that she was friends with the rest of the Gryffindor Seventh years was what made her currently public enemy number one to him. Hermione had been following the potions instructions precisely and the entire time Severus had stared over her shoulder, Hermione trying her hardest to not let him put her off. He would interrupt her often though, telling her to do it differently and immediately she was reminded of all of the amendments Snape had made to the Advanced Potions making book that Harry had used in his sixth year. That particular memory had unfortunately worsened her temper.

* * *

It felt like forever before she finally left the classroom, storming up to the Great Hall only to find that the other Gryffindor seventh years had already eaten and left. She needed to rant but had no one to do it to and as she sat there, cutting into the chicken on her plate, Hermione suddenly felt very alone again, the sound of chatter around her faded and dull. Her heart ached.

After dinner she went up to Gryffindor Tower, abandoning her robe in the empty dormitory before grabbing her potions textbook and heading for the common room. She curled up on the sofa with a piece of parchment, ink and quill and a fierce determination to learn as much as could about every potion that she was going to have to endure the guidance of Severus Snape for – she would be mortified if she ever made a mistake in front of him and the sheer thought of him using that stupid potions book he had made so many notes in infuriated her even more.

“I’m liking the new look,” James dropped into the armchair opposite, Hermione glancing up to him.

“Thanks – it’s courtesy of Mary and Marlene,” She smiled slightly before looking back down at the textbook.

“Sirius was looking for you earlier by the way, after lunch.”

“I was working.”

“You always are,” The sofa dipped as Sirius dropped beside her. He greeted James’ before watching Hermione, watching as her eyes darted from left to right over the words on the page.

“Barely seen you recently,” He commented and Hermione shrugged, refusing to look up again, after all they could clearly see she was working.

“I’ve been busy.” He made a noise of discontent which Hermione ignored.

“Not too busy to see my brother though,” Sirius commented, glancing to James before looking back to Hermione. She bristled, anger fizzing through her as she looked up at Sirius, putting her quill down angrily.

“I’ve already told you what the situation is with Reg,” She glared, moving the ink that was hovering in front of her to the arm of the chair.

“Mm, well, maybe you should make more effort with your own house instead of having your head shoved in a book all of the time. It’s rude you know.”

“I’m sorry you’re not my priority Sirius,” She snapped and Sirius raised his eyebrows at her. Hermione looked back down at her book, only to growl in annoyance as Sirius suddenly pulled it out from beneath her nose, “Give it back.”

“No. Stop being a miserable cow and then I might.”

“Oookay, and that is my cue to leave,” James spoke loudly, pulling himself up from the armchair but neither Sirius or Hermione noticed, both of them too distracted staring daggers at one another.

“How am I being a miserable cow Sirius? I’m just trying to work because you know, that’s what most students do around here.”

“It’s 7pm,” Sirius bit back, “just put the bloody book down for the evening and actually have some fun.”

“Fun?” Hermione snapped, “What would you like me to do for fun Sirius?”

“Just hang out with us for a bit before we have to surgically remove that stick from your arse. Tonight’s going to be our last get together before Christmas.”

“If I was going to ‘hang out’ with anyone, you wouldn’t exactly be my first choice right now,” She went to snatch the book back from him but he moved it out of her reach with a tut, “It is none of your business what I do with my time-”

“I know you prefer my brother’s company but you should actually make an effort with us just every once in a while. Mary seems to have got quite attached to you and I don’t want to see you mess her around.” Hermione felt a rush a guilt surge through her but quickly pushed it away - this wasn’t about Mary, this was about Sirius and Regulus’ relationship

“I wish you’d just back off, Reg is just helping me study,” Hermione bit back defensively, “which is a lot more than you’re doing right now.”

“Yeah… I’m sure he is,” Sirius uttered, his voice heavy with meaning and Hermione could feel the anger prickling at the end of her fingertips at the insinuation he had just made.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She snapped but Sirius just raised his eyebrow at her, remaining calm which irked her even more.

“You know exactly what it means.”

“What’s going on? James told me to come and sort you both out,” Remus spoke, dropping into the chair that James had previously occupied. Silence met him and he eyed the two of them apprehensively, realising this was more serious than James had let on in their dorm room. Silently he cursed him out.

“Fuck you Sirius,” Hermione growled, taking both of them aback.

“What’s happened?” Remus asked reluctantly as he looked between them, not being able to detect anything from their heart beats.

“I was just telling Hermione here that she should come and hang out with us all tonight Moony, you know seeing as it’s our last Sunday together before everyone goes home for Christmas,” Sirius spoke, his words calm but there was an unmistakable underlining bite in his tone. He forced a smile as Hermione continued to scowl at him, wanting more than anything in that moment to wipe that smug smile off of his face.

“And I was telling Sirius to give me my book back,” She tried to snatch it back again but he just moved it out of her reach.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake Sirius, give it back to her,” Remus groaned tiredly with a roll of his eyes.

“No,” Sirius said pointedly, “you hang out with us and then you can have it back.”

“Sirius-”

“Why?” Hermione asked, well and truly done with that day as she sat back defeated. She rubbed her face tiredly, “Why is it so important that I hang out with you Sirius?”

“Because I want to spend time with you, is that such a crime?” Sirius bit back. Remus eyed him apprehensively but Sirius didn’t falter.

“Fine,” she caved, “But give me my book back-”

“No.”

“Sirius, let me finish,” She snapped in irritation, wondering why he was making such an effort to force her to socialise with them when she was clearly in a foul mood, “Give me my book back, let me finish studying this potion and then, then I’m all yours.”

“How long will that take?” 

“Not long; half an hour, an hour tops.”

“Okay, deal.” Remus looked between the two of them with raised eyebrows.

“You two are unbelievable.”

Sirius sat there waiting for her, twiddling his thumbs whilst she studied. Frankly he was getting on her nerves, putting her off completely and it was actually taking her much longer to get through the potion than it normally would have. Finally though, she closed the book with her piece of parchment inside. Looking up she found Sirius staring at her expectantly.

“Done?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now come on,” He stood and waited for her to follow, her book and parchment tucked under her arm. He started to head up to the boys dormitory but Hermione paused; looking at him like that she could have easily have been looking up at the Sirius from her own time, the only difference being that his shoulders were narrower. She felt a jolt in her chest, her face falling, a knot in her chest for the family that she no longer had with her.

“Something wrong?” His impatient tone went over her head this time, her focus now on thoughts of Harry and the Weasleys, “Hermione.” Sirius was completely misreading Hermione’s actions as he looked back at her, frustration growing in him again. She seemed to snap out of it though, looking up to him, her mouth dropping open slightly.

“I…” She couldn’t find her words, tiredness clouding her head and making it hard for her to see this wasn’t her Sirius.

“Stop stalling,” He huffed before turning his back on her, “You’d think it was a death eater waiting for you up there, not your friends.

* * *

From across the room Sirius watched as Hermione talked to Mary. They were both sat on Remus’ bed whilst Remus sat on the floor next to it, leaning on the edge of the mattress, his eyes trained on them both. He mused silently that he had noticed Remus watching her more than once, his stomach twisting slightly but then Remus looked back at him with a frown. Sirius couldn’t help but smile at that; Moony never missed a trick. Turning his attention back to James his eyes ended up flicking back over to Hermione though more often than not, silently noticing how her eyes crinkled as she laughed at something Mary said.

“Pads, you even listening to me?” James whacked his arm, pulling his attention back to him, Sirius having the elegance not to jump as he glared at his friend.

“You said something about Quidditch.”

“Yeah… about ten minute ago, what is wrong with you?”

“He’s distracted,” Lily grinned, Sirius frowning at her, “He can’t keep his eyes off of Hermione.”

“Sirius,” James groaned and Sirius narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t like her like that?”

“You sure?” Lily asked, “Remus told me what you two were arguing about before you came up.”

“She was being a stubborn bitch,” He shrugged and Lily frowned at his tone.

“Sirius don’t mess her about-”

“I’m actually going to kill you two in a minute if you don’t shut up.”

“I bet she has a wild streak you know… I think they’d actually suit quite well Lily.”

“I doubt Granger has a wild anything about her,” Sirius laughed, eyeing her whilst at the back of his mind he was well aware that her friendship with Regulus meant she could probably be capable of much more than he had first anticipated.

“Ah, ‘Granger’ now is it?” Lily rolled her eyes, “You are so transparent Sirius.”

“Can you really imagine her breaking a school rule or getting into a fight with anyone?” Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows, ignoring Lily completely as she tried to speak.

“I actually can,” James laughed, “I’ve seen her shoot you down mate and I bet she knows some brilliant hexes and jinxes.”

“You are such a child Sirius,” Lily rolled her eyes, “You know what your problem is? You need to actually start appreciating women-”

“Oh, I do Lily,” He grinned and she smacked him on the arm.

“Not what I meant you sexist pig.” He laughed before looking across at Hermione, seeing her talking to Remus, jealousy rising in his chest again. He swallowed it back but it persisted until he found himself calling out.

“Granger!” He shouted and suddenly all of the eyes in the room were on him. Lily groaned beside him.

“Sirius don’t,” She hissed but he ignored her, leaning back against the pillows of his bed beside James as Lily sighed irritably.

“You break any rules at Bebatons? James thinks you have it in you, I disagree.” He had her attention and the jealous feeling in his stomach lifted.

* * *

Hermione was well and truly pulled out of her slump by Mary. She was dragged over to Remus’ bed where she had been sat talking him before she and Sirius had joined them. The blonde talked her ear off, force feeding her sweets whilst Remus sat on the floor beside his bed, leaning against it and piping up every now and again. She found herself forgetting about her worries quite quickly.

“So, you’re going to have to tell me Hermione,” Mary finally uttered, her voice in a low excited whisper as she leant towards Hermione.

“Tell you what?” Hermione smiled, thoroughly amused.

“About you and Sirius’ brother,” Mary grinned, Remus’ eyes flicking to Hermione as he attempted to read her reaction, “I had assumed that Sirius was the one that had you all smiley but I’m starting to wonder if I was wrong…”

“You’re wrong on both accounts,” Hermione laughed, unable to get angry with Mary, “Reg is just helping me with the topics that I haven’t covered from last year and his friend is helping me with some of the seventh year ones now.”

“We could have done that though,” Mary said conspiringly, “so why him? In fact how did you even meet him? It’s not like you have any classes together.”

“I met him on my first day here; I was ill from the journey and he helped me to the hospital wing. He ran into me in the library after and offered to help… that is literally it.”

“Oh yeah!” Mary bustled, looking to Remus, “I remember now – you told us about Hermione didn’t you Remus? I mean obviously we didn’t know it was you then but I do remember you saying something about this girl that you saw in the infirmary.”

“You did?” Hermione asked in surprise, turning to the sandy haired boy as well.

“Yeah. I saw you come in – I was in one of the other beds,” Remus explained. Hermione’s heart hammered in her chest as she realised he would have seen exactly the state that she was in when she had arrived. She knew that they had passed students in the halls but so far they had remained nameless but now that she knew Remus had seen her it made her nervous. She realised with a jolt that she would find him watching her from time to time and she wondered if he had started to figure her out.

“But anyway,” Mary spoke, not noticing that Hermione had paled slightly, Remus’ eyes trained on her still, “Regulus Black… you’re honestly not screwing around with him?” Hermione’s eyes widened as she stifled a laugh, Remus relaxing ever so slightly as he realised her reaction was genuine.

“No! No I’m not!” She guffawed, “Why would you even think that?” She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well from what I’ve heard you two are spending a lot of time together-”

“Yeah, studying-”

“And well with the foul mood Sirius has been in recently I just put two and two together.”

“And came up with five apparently,” Hermione laughed.

“Honestly?” Mary asked, scrutinising Hermione.

“Honestly. If we were screwing around I wouldn’t have had to put up with doing potions with Severus Snape this afternoon.”

“Annnd that explains the bad mood you were in earlier,” Remus commented and Hermione couldn’t help but smile.

“Exactly.”

“Severus can be a bit of a nob at times,” Mary sighed, glancing to Lily.

“A bit?” Hermione uttered with a sigh, “He was absolutely insufferable. He was meant to be helping me and it felt like it was such a huge waste of time.”

“Really?” Mary asked in surprise, “You lot always have arguments with him don’t you Remus, but he’s always been alright with the rest of us... well civil anyway.”

“I must be the lucky one then,” Hermione grimaced, “I just wish he would have given me a break, I just want to-”

“Granger!” They all looked across at Sirius in surprise, Hermione frowning at the fact that he had called her by her surname.

“Sirius don’t,” Lily hissed but Hermione watched as he ignored her, leaning back against his headboard.

“You break any rules at Bebatons? James thinks you have it in you, I disagree.

“Beauxbatons,” She corrected, eyeing him with a frown.

“Same difference,” He said dismissively, “So did you?”

“What is it to you?” Hermione said, thinking back to the sheer amount of trouble she, Ron and Harry had got into over her years at Hogwarts.

“Well that is clearly a yes,” Dorcas laughed from Peter’s bed.

“What’ve you done?” Mary asked eagerly and Hermione glanced around at them all, suddenly aware that they were all looking at her, waiting for a response. She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation that she was in, shaking her head slightly.

“She hasn’t done anything,” Sirius said and Hermione met his eyes as he lazed back; he was looking at her with an expression that she couldn’t read.

“I brewed Polyjuice Potion illegally in my second year,” She stated, a lot of them raising their eyebrows in surprise. It was a dangerous mixture of exhaustion and anger that made her say it, her emotions getting the better of her and clouding her judgement.

“That… that is impressive,” Lily breathed and James nodded his head as well in appreciation.

“Only you could break a school rule by brewing an incredibly advanced potion Hermione,” Remus laughed and Hermione couldn’t help but briefly wonder if she had been over thinking Remus’ reactions earlier.

“Did it work? What did you use it for?” Peter asked.

“It worked. We used it to spy on someone…” Hermione cringed, “My friends and I were sure this boy was up to something… turns out we were wrong.”

“Is that it?” Sirius uttered and Lily slapped his arm.

“What is wrong with you tonight?” She berated him.

“I just don’t think it’s that impressive,” he shrugged.

“You asked if I had broken any school rules Sirius,” Hermione found herself snapping at his attitude, “you didn’t specify whether it had to be impressive or not.” She had had enough of Sirius; she had ‘hung out’ with them and still he was acting like a dick, she couldn’t win.

“To be fair, brewing a successful Polyjuice Potion at that age is pretty impressive,” Marlene cut in, knowing that even if she tried now she would fail horrifically at brewing such a complex potion.

“So are you going to give me anything else or what, Granger?” Sirius said and Hermione couldn’t help but glare at him, the tension between them thick.

“I’m not just here to entertain you, Black,” She knew she was being petty but he was getting under her skin quickly.

“I told you she hasn’t got anything-” Sirius scoffed, turning to James, his own back up from her using his surname. Hermione bristled especially when James laughed, about to say something but she didn’t give him the chance to.

“You want impressive? Fine,” Hermione snapped, suddenly furious that these were the men that Harry was going to end up looking up to and placing so much importance upon, “My friends and I took on a mountain troll in our first year. It got into the castle and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” She spoke quickly, Mary gasping from beside her, “I was petrified by a basilisk in my second year, thus missing the majority of it-”

“Isn’t that a giant snake thing?” Peter asked with a frown but no one answered.

“-third year my friends and I saved a hippogriff from being unfairly executed. We had a close run in with a werewolf and then-”

“A werewolf?” James interrupted hoarsely, “You were attacked by a werewolf?” Hermione paled immediately. She had let her anger get the best of her and she hadn’t thought before she had spoken.

“You are so full of shit,” Sirius hissed, pushing himself up. He didn’t know whether to leap up in anger or stay put so instead he hovered on the edge of the bed, fire in his eyes.

“What happened?”

“We weren’t attacked-” Hermione started but was cut off as Sirius finally stood properly. He paced towards her in anger, the girls confused about why he was reacting so strongly.

“Stop lying!” Hermione flinched, Lily picking up on it and immediately getting up and pulling Sirius back to the bed where he sat again.

“I’m not lying,” Hermione spoke softly, looking down at her hands before looking back into the room, avoiding all of their eyes still.

“What happened?” Peter asked.

“We weren’t attacked, it was an accident. He was a friend and so much was happening and he just got caught out during the full moon. We were fine, he was fine.”

“He was your friend?” James asked and Hermione winced, rubbing her shoulder uncomfortably, refusing to meet Sirius’ eyes.

“Yeah… well kind of… he was one of my teachers but after he left we stayed in touch.”

“Wow,” Marlene breathed, Dorcas nodding in agreement, lost for words.

“You’re telling the truth,” Remus said quietly. Hermione looked to him, he was as white as a sheet, hanging onto Hermione’s every word, listening closely to her heart beat.

“Yes,” She looked away, her eyes darting from Lily, to James, to Peter, to Dorcas before she finally shifted uncomfortably. They were waiting for her to carry on with her stories but she wasn’t ready for that and they definitely weren’t either, “Look I think I’m just going to go to bed, I don’t really want to talk about any of that, I just lost my temper-”

“No! Don’t go yet,” Mary argued, “We’ll talk about something else, it’s fine.” But Hermione shook her head, she’d had enough and she had said more than enough.

“No, I’m tired. I’ll see you all in the morning,” Hermione uttered, pulling herself up from the bed and glancing to them all.

“I’ll walk you,” Sirius’ tone was still hard as he also stood up, stretching his back out with a crack.

“I think I can make it on my own,” Hermione responded tiredly but he just shrugged.

“That might be but you’re still not going to stop me.”

“Fine,” She rolled her eyes, “Night guys.” She was met with disappointed murmurs of goodnight as she left the dorm, heading down the stairs with Sirius close behind her.

Hermione was waiting for him to say something and although she wasn’t quite sure what it was going to be, she was ready for another argument if needs be.

“Hermione, wait,” He finally spoke as they got to the bottom of the stairs that lead from the boys dormitories. The common room was empty besides them, Hermione realising suddenly that it must’ve been later than she realised, having completely lost track of time. Stopping she turned to look at him, surprised to find him rubbing his neck nervously.

“Look, I’m sorry,” He finally said, Hermione raising her eyebrows slightly, “I’ve been a dick all night-”

“For the past few days.”

“I just… I just don’t get why you would be friends with my brother and that’s getting to me,” He held his hand up to stop Hermione who was about to bite back, “You might not want to hear it but I know my family a lot better than you Hermione, we were both brought up with my parents’ pureblood ideals. He hangs around with the shittiest people and you’re smarter than that.”

“You think I’m going to start worshipping Voldemort?” She asked as realisation hit her, Sirius frowned as she used his name, “Sirius, I’m a mudblood, I’m never going to-”

“Hermione,” He uttered in shock as he guffawed at her, “what the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m trying to make a point Sirius,” She stressed, frowning, “I’m not dabbling in the dark arts, I just want to learn as much as I can whilst I’m here and your brother happens to be the one that’s helping me with that.”

“That still doesn’t explain what he gave you the other day though,” Sirius said, shifting on his feet, trying to keep his voice quiet though he was finding it difficult to in his growing frustration.

“That’s between me and him,” She said calmly but as soon as Sirius huffed in frustration, her back was up again.

“And this is why I’m struggling to trust you Hermione. Gryffindor’s don’t lie yet here you are lying for the snake that’s slithered into your life.” Hermione couldn’t help but scoff and roll her eyes at that. “That’s rich coming from you.”

“What?”

“What Reg gave me is between us-”

“Which doesn’t make it suspicious at all!”

“You are insufferable Sirius!”

“And you’re a bloody mess!”

“I know I am,” She snapped, her voice harder than it had been all night, “I’m well aware how much of a state I am Sirius!”

“Hermione, that’s not-” He groaned, rubbing his forehead but Hermione cut him off.

“If you hadn’t noticed I’m bloody exhausted! That is what Reg was helping me with,” He stared at her as she exploded, close to tears, her voice rising louder and louder, “I have nightmares to the point where I don’t want to go to sleep for fear of them. Reg is the only one that noticed how tired I am, how broken and exhausted I am and he decided to actually do something about it. Which is a hell of a lot more than you have done,” She looked at him, breathing heavily, the ends of her hair crackling with magic as she hastily wiped a tear away that had escaped, “Are you happy with that answer Sirius? Are you going to leave us alone now? Are you happy that I’m having nightmares bad enough that I’ve had to source a dreamless sleep draught which I could get expelled for just having in my possession?” Sirius didn’t know what to say, guilt raining down on him hard. He had noticed how tired she looked, of course he had, but he had simply put it down to the fact that she was always working – it had never once crossed his mind that there would be more to it than that.

“And if you don’t believe that then I give up,” She snapped, breathing shakily as she tried to control her tears.

“I’m sorry Hermione, I-”

“Don’t,” She hissed, “Don’t you dare.”

“Is everything okay?” They both looked up to find Remus standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at them both, concerned.

“Just peachy!”

“Hermione, wait,” Sirius called but she was already storming up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory, wanting nothing more to do with him after the already shit day that she had had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your continued support!


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione was driving Sirius insane. All he wanted to do was talk to her about what happened but she wasn’t having anything of it, she was downright avoiding him. He would walk into the common room and she’d disappear and then at meal times she buried her head in a book and barely spoke to anyone. It was frustrating the hell out of him and whilst Lily told him not to push her he couldn’t help but feel a ball of anger bristle in him every time she disappeared on him - she was acting like he was the enemy and yeah, whilst he had been an arse - there was no doubt about that, he had apologised and he wasn’t sure what more she wanted from him. In the back of his mind he knew that she was spending more and more time with Regulus and he couldn’t help but wonder if that was the real reason she was distancing herself from him; only Merlin knew the kind of shit Regulus was telling her about Sirius.

* * *

It was early morning, the day before the Hogwarts Express would be taking them home, when Sirius went to meet the girl he was fooling around with from Ravenclaw. They met in the passageway that they always met down; one that Sirius knew didn’t get many students down from studying the Marauders Map closely. Evelyn was usually so good at distracting him from whatever he had going on but even she couldn’t shake Hermione from his mind that morning and it wasn’t long before she placed her hand on his chest to stop him. Usually she had his whole attention, his words usually full of passion as he kissed her and they fooled around - today however, he was silent. It wasn’t long before she couldn’t take it anymore, pulling away from him.

“What is with you today?” Evelyn asked with a frown as she considered him.

“Nothing,” He shrugged before attempting to go back to kissing her but she stopped him, her hand firmly on his chest.

“You’re clearly distracted Sirius,” She said with a sigh and Sirius huffed slightly and rolled his eyes.

“I’ve just got shit on my mind, okay?”

“Talk to me about it-”

“No,” He breathed out a small laugh that sounded cold than he had intended.

“Why not? I want to help,” Her back had gone up but still she was trying as she gently touched his face but the smirk that fell across Sirius’ lips sent a bolt of annoyance through her.

“I’ll tell you how you can help,” He said before going to kiss her neck but she pushed him away again and he rolled his eyes.

“Stop it, I’m being serious.” He took a step back from her and sighed out in frustration.

“I don’t want your help - I’m not going to sit down and tell you my feeling and cry on your shoulder,” He snapped and Evelyn raised her eyebrows at him, her jaw tightening.

“Wow, nice, okay,” She folded her arms across her chest as she considered him, “I was just trying to be a decent person Sirius but just forget I said anything.”

“I told you from the start that this was just fooling around, nothing more.”

“I know,” She snapped, “I’m not an idiot, I know what this is.”

“Do you?” He scoffed, because you’re being pretty overbearing right now.”

“Do you really think I’d want to be in a relationship with you Sirius?” She snapped, “You’re a good fuck but that’s it. You’re selfish, arrogant-”

“Oh don’t hold back on my account,” he spat, “Just remember that you’re the one that came onto me, pretty much begged me.” She laughed incredulously at him.

“You purebloods are just all the same, aren’t you; starved of affection from your parents so you’ll do anything for it now. It’s fucking pathetic.” Evelyn snapped before turning her back on him and quickly leaving the passage before he could say anything else. He watched in anger as she left before kicking the wall in frustration. Usually he and Evelyn were on the same page with things, they’d never fought before. Banging his head back against the stone wall he closed his eyes for a second, allowing the cold December air of the castle to wrap around him now that he didn’t have Evelyn’s heat to warm him. With a sigh he pulled himself up figuring that it was still early and he needed to burn off some steam and James could at least help him out with that and head out onto the quidditch pitch with him for a bit.

* * *

Heading back to the Gryffindor common room he climbed through the portrait hole. It was early but there were a few students milling around now. He had been planning on heading straight up to the dorm and annoying James until he agreed on getting up but then he stopped. There she was; Hermione, curled in one of the chairs by the fire, a blasted book in her hand, thoroughly unaware that he had caught her.

He was almost tempted to just leave her be. He couldn’t really be bothered after having had such a shit morning already but then Hermione looked up and saw him and in that split second he changed his mind. The way that her eyes widened slightly at the sight of him was almost comical but his heart dropped as he watched her shut her book, attempting to appear natural and like it wasn’t because of him as she got up. He’d had enough of this.

She was heading for the girls dormitory and Sirius didn’t hesitate as he headed for the staircase as well, managing to grab her arm and pull her back down the steps before she got too far. With a thump her book fell to the floor and Sirius felt an odd sense of deja-vu as they both stood in the same position that they had last argued in.

“What the hell Sirius!” Hermione yelped, ripping her arm out of his grip and grabbing her book. Immediately his frustration grew again and he maneuvered himself so that he was blocking her escape to the dormitory. “We need to talk Hermione.”

“No we don’t,” She snapped, flustered now as she tried to past him but he refused to move, a look of determination on his face as he huffed out a breath.

“You can’t just avoid me forever Hermione,” He snapped back and when she raised her eyebrows at he bristled with anger. “What did I do to you for you to hate me this much?” He asked sharply, “Yeah I was an asshole but I apologised, didn’t I?”

“I… I don’t hate you,” She faltered, her face falling slightly.

“Really? Because it sure as hell feels like you do. You’ve been avoiding me all week, in fact you’ve barely spoken to anyone. What is your game?” He paused for a second, now he’d started he couldn't stop, “is it him? Is this because of Regulus? Is he making you-”

“Oh shut up,” Hermione rolled her eyes, “the world isn’t just Black and white. This is nothing to do with Reg.”

“It’s always to do with him.”

“Only in your head Sirius,” She sighed in frustration, “Please just leave me alone. I’m not in the mood for this right now.”

“Why? You have this stupid fucking outburst where you tell us all of this bullshit and everyone else falls for it but now i’m not so sure,” Sirius knew he should stop but now that he had started, he couldn’t stop the words from coming out of his mouth, “You act all high and mighty all of the time but you’re not better than us Granger, not even close. You think you’re so damn important but you’re not the smartest person in this school so stop acting so damn pretentious and entitled.” He was too caught up in his anger to notice her eyes glistening as she swallowed thickly to try and hold back her tears. He hadn’t realised he had been shouting until he noticed people looking at them and whispering. He almost snapped at them too to mind their own business when he heard a sniff - he turned back to Hermione but she was looking down, her hair covering her face before she quickly wiped at her eyes and straightened up, looking him in the eye.

“Can I go now?” She asked, her voice cracking and Sirius immediately deflated as he saw how hard she was trying not to cry. He didn’t say anything more as he stepped aside and let her past. He was such an idiot.

* * *

Even though lessons had ended on Friday for the Christmas break Regulus still found himself down in the potions classroom with Severus. He had been in high spirits, setting up his station with a slight hum, well and truly distracted until Severus’ hand whacked him over the back of the head hard.

“What the hell was that for?” Regulus asked, turning to glare at his fellow Slytherin.

“Concentrate! You’re acting like a lovesick puppy,” Severus uttered, “and frankly it’s revolting.”

“Oh shut up, I am not,” Regulus  rolled his eyes, going back to his set up, “I’m just in a good mood.”

“Mmm, and it’s no surprise why.”

“Because it’s Christmas-”

“You hate Christmas.”

“No I don’t.”

“Every year since I first met you, you have done nothing but whine about how purely shit Christmas is-”

“Alright, shut up, I get the point.”

“I don’t know what you see in her personally; she’s a stuck up know it all.”

“Sounds familiar,” Regulus muttered under his breath, laughing when Severus slapped him around the back of the head again.

Regulus looked up as the door creaked and Hermione stepped into the classroom.

“You’re late,” Severus immediately said and he saw Hermione pause slightly as she shut the door behind her.

“Not that it matters,” Regulus uttered with a roll of his eyes, “It’s not like we have anything better to do today.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“Oh really…” Regulus started to say, eyebrows raised but then his eyes fell on Hermione as she walked over to their table and the words died on his tongue. Her eyes were red and puffy and she couldn’t help but sniff slightly as she put her bag down.

“Thanks for setting things up for me,” She uttered before clearing her throat, “What are we working on?” She sniffed and Regulus stared at her for a second longer before Severus cleared his throat as well.

“Temporium,” Severus said, “Like we agreed yesterday. I hope you brought your ingredients Granger.”

“Right yeah, got everything with me,” Regulus watched as she shoved her hand into her bag, pulling the ingredients out, messily laying the bottles and vials out on the counter.

“Hermione,” He spoke tentatively, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Hermione uttered, keeping her eyes downcast, “Are you?”

“Can we please get on? I dare say this potion is going to take all day for you to perfect as it without all of this chit chat,” Severus uttered, Hermione was about to bite back but stopped herself, silently opening her potions book to the correct page instead.

* * *

The morning wore on, the two of them taking orders from Severus though Regulus could see it was much to Hermione’s annoyance most of the time. She seemed to brighten though, her complexion returning to its usual pale white, her cheeks rosy from the shear heat coming from the potion. She had barely spoken except to answer back to Severus and it unnerved Regulus; he wanted to know what had happened, who had upset her.

“Cast a stasis charm on the potion, we’ll come back to it after lunch.”

“Is mine meant to be… green?” Regulus asked, peering into his cauldron before glancing to Hermione’s potion which was a bright sunshine yellow.

“No,” He stated flatly, looking at the potion as well, “You need to turn up the heat and continue to stir it clockwise; if you burn it I am not sitting with you whilst you start again.”

“Thanks,” Regulus uttered, rolling his eyes, “go without me, I won’t be long.” Severus didn’t need telling twice as he swept out of the classroom. Regulus stood stirring his potion whilst slowly increasing the heat.

“You don’t have to wait,” he said when he noticed Hermione busily flicking through her potions book instead of following behind Severus.

“I’m not hungry,” She answered with a shrug, her voice soft. Regulus glanced across to find her running her finger down the page, mouthing the ingredients to a simple potion to herself.

“What’s on your mind?” He watched as she paused before he turned back to keep an eye on his potion.

“Nothing.”

“Sure, okay,” He shrugged, “I’d forgotten you cry when you’re happy.”

“Sometimes I do,” She said begrudgingly and he smiled slightly.

“Hermione, come on, it’s me,” His eyes met hers as she looked up, “what’s wrong?”

Hermione hesitated, “I had a fight with Sirius.”

“Oh,” he swallowed thickly, “What about?”

“He’s been trying to talk to me but I’ve just not been in the right headspace to talk to him. So i’ve been kind of avoiding him and then this morning he just… he just started yelling at me.”

“He shouted at you?” Regulus asked in surprise, trying to remember to keep an eye on his slowly yellowing potion although honestly he couldn’t give two shits about it now.

“Yeah.”

“How come you haven’t been in the right headspace?”

“We had an argument the other night and I just didn’t want him to bring it all up again.”

“What was the argument about?” He asked tentatively, not sure if he was pushing the line too much or not but she seemed to be happy talking to him at least.

“Me and you.” Regulus paused and looked at her.

“He doesn’t like that we’re friends?”

“Yeah you could say that,” Hermione let out a small bitter laugh, “Not that it’s anything to do with him.” Hermione ranted and Regulus couldn’t help but feel a sense of triumph rise in. His potion now matched Hermione’s and Severus’ so he withdrew his wand before casting a stasis charm. Sitting back on the stool he swivelled around to look at Hermione properly.

“Let me guess, he doesn’t trust me?” Regulus asked and at Hermione’s silence he couldn’t help but laugh, “He doesn’t even know who I am. I’m not the kid he left behind anymore. We haven’t talked properly in years-”

“Then you need to,” Hermione said in frustration, “So that I don’t have to keep going through all of this ridiculousness everytime he sees me with you. He said some… horrible things,” She couldn’t help but tear up again, quickly trying to blink them back.

“No,” Regulus uttered awkwardly, “He won’t want to talk to me and I don’t really want to talk to him anyway. Just promise me you won’t let him get away with being an arsehole to you.”

“Can’t you just talk to him Reg? Let him see the side of you that I know.”

“I can’t, I really can’t,” He said, awkwardly rubbing his shoulder, “It’s not as simple as that.”

“Why are you both so bloody stubborn.”

“Must run in the family.”

“Great,” Hermione mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Regulus watched her for a second, he’d never known anyone like Hermione. No one had ever stuck up for him as much as she had, especially considering he knew the kind of thing that his brother would have been telling her.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while... but I haven't given up on this fic, I just hit a bit of a wall with this chapter. Rewriting it three times seemed to help though! So here you go, I hope you enjoyed it! More to come soon; let's all hope that Sirius will stop being an angsty little bitch before Hermione kills him. Thank you for all of your continued support with this fic!


	11. Chapter 11

Later that afternoon Hermione found herself back in the Gryffindor common room. She just couldn’t stop crying and it was driving her mad. More than anything she wished she had Harry with her but it surprised her how much being with Regulus had helped. There was something about him that just surprised her, she had never known him personally in her time and what she did know about him was little. He was not the person she would have ever expected; he was definitely different to his brother, that was clear. Sirius was the absolute bane of her life at that moment. His attitude was driving her mad and she honestly had enough on her plate without him being horrible to her as well. It was like the petty arguments that she used to have with Ron and she was sick of it. 

“Hi Hermione,” Marlene dropped onto the chair opposite her with a small smile.

“Hey,” Hermione forced a smile which even she knew would have looked fake. 

“Are you okay?” She could see the genuine concern on her face and immediately felt guilty, “You’ve been really quiet the past few days.” 

“I’m fine, just tired,” Hermione said softly, with a small more genuine smile.

“I heard you and Sirius had a fight,” she prompted delicately and Hermione looked at her in silence for a second before nodding. “Tell him he’s being an idiot.” 

“Yeah,” Hermione laughed genuinely having not expected her to say that, “I’ll try that.”

“Good. And if that doesn’t work just set Lily on him, I’m pretty sure he’s scared of her.”

“Thanks Marlene.”

“It’s okay, sorry I can’t be more help,” she said softly, “You coming down for dinner?” Hermione felt a ball of anxiety settle in her chest, she wasn’t really ready to see Sirius again but she knew it was their last night before all of them except Hermione, Remus and Peter went home for Christmas so really she needed to at least show her face. 

“Yeah,” she finally answered and the genuinely bright smile that Marlene gave her made her feel a little more comfortable. 

“Great, come on then; I’m starving.”

* * *

Together they headed down to the great hall, Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, her oversized jumper hiding how tightly she was holding onto her forearms in an attempt to ground herself. She really was hungry though and that was the only thing stopping her from turning right back around and hiding in the dormitory. She had never been good with confrontation and it was even harder with it being Sirius. 

Hermione was lost in her thoughts as they walked, a comfortable silence between them. It wasn’t until they got to the staircase that lead down to the hall that Hermione suddenly felt a little light headed. She brushed it off, putting it down to the fact that she hadn’t actually eaten since breakfast and just focused on where she was putting her feet. The feeling didn’t pass though and before she knew it she was starting to feel a little unsteady. Hermione stopped, putting her hand on the stone banister, closing her eyes briefly. 

“Hermione, are you okay?” She focused on her breathing but the feeling wasn’t going. 

“Hermione?” She felt Marlene’s hand on hers and opened her eyes briefly before everything suddenly went black. 

When Hermione opened her eyes again she was taken aback by the people surrounding her and immediately tried to sit up with a wince. 

“Woaaah, slow down,” Marlene said quickly but Hermione was forced to stop anyway as all of the blood rushed to her head, “You fell pretty hard.”

“What happened?” Hermione groaned, putting her hand to her head. 

“You fainted. Are you okay? We should get you to Madame Pomfrey-”

“No, no, I’m good,” Hermione moaned, “I just need some food, I haven’t eaten all day.” Marlene shooed the students away that had gathered around them before helping Hermione to her feet. 

“Hermione, no come on, you’re bleeding,” She frowned and Hermione looked down to see Marlene wasn’t wrong, she had blood trickling to her fingertips. With a frown she pushed her sleeve up slightly to find that where she had been clutching her arm she had left a deep scratch when she had fallen.

“Oh,” She uttered, suddenly noticing just how much it stung. She pressed her jumper against the cut in an attempt to help it clot, “it’s just a scratch, I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, come on, i’m hungry... and embarrassed,” Hermione forced a smile and Marlene reluctantly nodded. 

“Okay, if you’re sure.” 

She had never fainted before, never. Hermione wasn’t one to get light headed and it wasn’t the first time she had skipped a meal, normally from just getting too engrossed in studying and forgetting. Pushing it to the back of her mind she and Marlene entered the hall and headed for the Gryffindor table; on the plus side she was distracted from her nervousness of seeing them all. 

As soon as they sat down Marlene jokingly commented on the ordeal and it actually seemed to break any tension that had been between them all. Hermione kept catching Sirius looking at her but she couldn’t hold his gaze. In a bid to distract herself Hermione helped herself to some food, listening to the conversation around her but not really contributing. Hermione was at the end of the row with Marlene beside her and Remus opposite her so she didn’t feel forced to talk at least.

* * *

Remus felt uncomfortable. The moon was drawing closer and his wolf counterpart was rising to the surface, making everything a lot more sensitive. His senses were already in overdrive and this was only the beginning. As soon as Marlene and Hermione had sat down he had tensed, something was off but he couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. She had fainted, Marlene had said that but there was something else and for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it was. 

It was fifteen minutes later that the metallic stench really met his nose and he finally realised what it was. He debated with himself for a while, glancing at Hermione repeatedly but when she didn’t seem to be aware anything was wrong he couldn’t help but speak up, the stench making him feel sick. 

“Hermione?”

“Mm?” She looked up at him, her face paler than usual. She didn’t look good at all but she was trying her best to hide it.

“Are you bleeding?” Remus asked in a whisper, glancing over her body but still not seeing anything. He was trying not to draw attention to her but he knew something was wrong as she shook her head slightly, quirking her head at him. 

“No… I mean I was before - I scraped my arm when I fell but it’s stopped now,” She uttered, glancing at her arm but Remus frowned and shook his head slightly; no, this smelt fresh. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah…” She put her arm up her sleeve and Remus saw her eyes widen slightly as she stilled. She met his eyes briefly before looking away. Her heart was suddenly racing and he noticed immediately how her breath caught in her throat. 

“Hermione-”

“I think I need to go and see Madame Pomfrey,” She said quietly. She stood quickly and without another word to anyone she quickly rushed away, her hand hidden up her sleeve still, pressed against the cut on her arm in a bid to stem the bleeding.

* * *

Hurrying out of the Great Hall Hermione felt pure panic going through her. Why was her arm still bleeding? It felt bad; her arm was soaked and sticky but she wasn’t really sure exactly how bad it was until she could look. 

Was she not able to heal properly because of what had happened to her? 

Why wasn’t the blood clotting? 

She didn’t really want to go to Madame Pomfrey, not with the dreamless sleep potion in her system. She stood in the entrance hall for a second trying to figure out where she could go to sort herself out before it hit her; Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

“Hermione, wait!” She turned to see Sirius leaving the Great Hall, concern all over his face as he reached her, looking her over, “are you okay? What’s happened?”

“I have to go,” she said ]but he quickly matched her pace.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No, no, I’m okay-“

“You’re clearly not Hermione, I just want to make sure you get to Madame Pomfrey okay and then I’ll leave you, okay?”

“I’m not going to Madame Pomfrey,” she admitted and Sirius stopped immediately, pulling her to a stop as well.

“What? Why not? Where are you going?” He was looking at her incredulously but she just shook her head.

“I don’t have time to explain,” She said softly but at the concern on his face she just sighed before nodding her head down the hall, “Just… just come on.” She lead the way, Sirius following after her obediently albeit a little confused. Neither of them spoke a word; Sirius too scared that she’d push him away if he challenge her whilst Hermione walked as quick as she could, trying to ignore how faint she felt.

“What... ” Sirius frowned as she stopped outside the girls bathroom on the second floor. Hermione took a deep breath and composed herself before entering. Sirius looked after her, absolutely dumbstruck before glancing around and entering the girls toilets as well. 

“Hermione, this is-“

“Myrtle’s bathroom, I know.”

“I was going to say ‘mad’ but yeah, that too,” he uttered, watching as she went over to the sinks. Myrtle hadn’t appeared yet and for that he was thankful.

* * *

Hermione stood in front of the sink, trembling slightly as she withdrew her hand from her sleeve. Sirius’ heart stopped as he saw the blood - so that was why Remus had looked so uncomfortable at dinner. 

“What happened?” He saw Hermione wince before turning on one of the taps, washing the blood from her hands. 

“Hermione?” he questioned again, stepping beside her and watching as the red ran from her fingers. He knew they wouldn’t have long before Myrtle turned up now. 

“I scratched my arm when I fell down the stairs,” she uttered pushing her sleeve up and Sirius couldn’t help but stare at the blood covering her forearm. 

“A scratch… caused all that?”

“Yeah, it’s not clotting, I don’t know why,” she said whilst trying to wash as much of the blood off her forearm as she could.

“You need to go to Madame Pomfrey-“

“I can sort it myself-“

“Oooooooo-ooo-ooo!” Myrtle floated up the centre of the sinks and gleefully squealed at the site of them. “Sirius Black! You naughty boy! What are  _ you  _ doing in  _ my  _ bathroom?” She grinned cheekily at him and leant forward, “did you miss me?” She was paying no mind at all to Hermione who was continuing to wash her arm before drying it with her wand. 

“Always Myrtle,” Sirius uttered dryly, distractedly watching as Hermione examined the cut that was blossoming fresh blood still. Why was she still bleeding? It was the thinnest of scratches, it didn’t make sense.

“It’s been so long, you haven’t been to see me in aaaaages,” She moaned, draping herself over one of the pipes. Sirius watched as Hermione attempted to heal it herself but her wand hand was trembling. 

“May I?” He asked and he saw her hesitate before nodding. He’d healed so many of Remus’ cuts over the years that he had actually got quite good at it but even so as he ran his wand over Hermione’s arm it took three or four attempts before the cut actually healed. 

“Sirius, why don’t you come to see me anymore?” Myrtle whined and Sirius turned to her whilst Hermione pulled her sleeve back down, leaning against the sinks, still feeling light headed. 

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder Myr, you know that,” He winked, “We’ve got to go but I’ll make sure I come back to see you again soon, okay?”

“Do you promise?” She gave him a cheeky smile. 

“Cross my heart,” He answered before turning back to Hermione, “come on.” 

“You need to go and see Madame Pomfrey, Hermione,” Sirius said softly as they exited the bathroom. She had pulled her arm out of his hold and was leaning back against the stone wall with her eyes closed. 

“I’m fine-”

“You’re as pale as the Grey Lady,” he said softly, “Come on, just go and see her, let her check you over and then i’ll leave you be.”

“I just need some water, i’m probably dehydrated that’s all… in fact i haven’t really eaten today either.” Sirius looked at her for a second, one part of him just relieved that she was actually talking to him. 

“Okay, well in that case let’s go and get you some food.”

“Dinner will be over by now, don’t worry, i’m fine.”

“We’ll go down to the kitchens.”

“No, no-”

“You said it yourself you need to eat and frankly Hermione, you look like shit.” Hermione cracked a weak smile at that.

“Okay, fine. Lead the way,” She said softly, pushing herself from the wall, “Just can we… go slowly?”

“Sure, you want my arm?” She hesitated before nodding and Sirius linked arms with her.

* * *

Sirius lead the way, relieved that they were getting the chance to talk properly after the mess that had been that morning. He hadn’t meant to lose it completely with her, she’d just been driving him insane and he hadn’t meant all of the things he’d said. They were quiet as they went, passing the odd few students that were heading back to their common rooms before they finally reached the kitchens. Sirius tickled the pear and he glanced at Hermione to gauge her reaction as they entered but all she did was look around slightly, she wasn’t in awe at all like he had expected. 

“Here, sit here,” He said softly, dragging a stool out from beneath one of the counters and sitting Hermione on it. The sound drew a couple of the elve’s attention and he saw the slightly pained expression on Hermione’s face as they came rushing over - Sirius was confused, he had half expected her to coo over them, he imagined she hadn’t seen a house elf before and usually girls tended to find them sweet little creatures. Hermione however was different. She wasn’t most girls. 

“Can we help Sir and Miss?” One of the little elves asked and Hermione winced. 

“No, no we’re okay-”

“What are you talking about, we came down here for food,” Sirius laughed as he took the stool beside her, “What have you guys got?” he asked the elf and his big eyes lit up but Hermione interrupted again before he could speak.

“No,” Hermione said quickly, “No we’re okay, I insist,” She placed her hand on Sirius’ knee in an attempt to get her point across. He frowned as he glanced from the elf to her before finally dismissing him. 

“You don’t like elves or something?”

“Of course I do,” She said defensively, “I just don’t think they should be enslaved and forced to do a wizard’s bidding. If I want food I can help myself.” Sirius stared at her for a second before grinning. 

“What?” Hermione asked and he just shook his head slightly, “No, what Sirius? Tell me.”

“Just you… i’ve never met anyone as strong minded as you,” He chuckled before pulling himself to his feet. She was half expecting him to argue but instead he headed towards one the huge larders. “How do you feel about Sirius-rights? Do you mind if I cook for you instead?” He started to hunt through the food there, seeing what he could make out of it. 

“You can cook?” Hermione asked in surprise and Sirius looked back at her hurt. 

“Of course I can Hermione,” he said before looking back into the larder, “so how does a cheese sandwich sound?” Hermione couldn’t help but laugh lightly. 

“It sounds perfect.”

* * *

Hermione felt so much better after they had eaten before proceeding to down water like there was no tomorrow, suddenly realising just how thirsty she had been. She and Sirius seemed to be in good spirits and whilst neither of them wanted to be the one to ruin it there was definitely an elephant in the room that needed addressing. 

“I’m sorry for what I said this morning,” He said softly and Hermione didn’t look at him for a second, suddenly feeling awkward as she looked down at her goblet, “I didn’t mean any of it, I was getting so frustrated and i’m not trying to make excuses, I was just having a bad morning and you got the brunt of it. I really am sorry Hermione.”

“It’s okay,” Her voice was quiet and she refused to meet his eyes, half wishing they could go back to pretending nothing had happened.

“It’s not though is it,” He sighed, “I know i’ve been an absolute shit to you recently. I think I was jealous of you spending your time with Regulus,” He admitted with a shrug, “I guess I’m not used to sharing friends with him.” The fact that he had just referred to Hermione as a friend warmed her.

“It’s okay, I’m not so innocent either; I shouldn’t have been avoiding you. I just needed some space, it’s been a tough week,” She sighed, rubbing her eyes slightly.

“Want to talk about it?” Hermione hesitated before realising she could at least be a little honest with him. 

“With it being Christmas and all and not going home… I just miss my friends… and my family. I’m feeling very homesick right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Sirius said genuinely, “I’m sure you’ll get the chance to see them in the new year though.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” she sighed slightly, taking another gulp of her water before trying to shake those thoughts off, “so shall we just forget any of it happened?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sirius grinned.

“And you’re going to stop getting at me about Regulus?” 

“I’ll try,” He said honestly and they smiled at each other for a second before Sirius cleared his throat. 

“So why wouldn’t you go to see Madame Pomfrey about your arm?” He asked carefully and Hermione again couldn’t help but hesitate, shifting uncomfortably. 

“I… I didn’t know what kind of tests she’d do. I didn’t want her to find that potion in my system.” He was quiet for a second, thinking it through.

“Is that was caused the bleeding?” She could tell he was on edge asking this, not wanting to start another argument between them but he was still worried. 

“No, no it wasn’t.”

“How can you be sure?”

“None of the ingredients in it would cause that kind of reaction,” She said softly, knowing that if it was to be anything it was more likely to just be the damage that had been done to her body via the time turner. 

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudo and comments! It forever floors me how damn nice you all are about this story. Thank you for the support.


End file.
